


far from born again.

by pyroallerdyce



Series: dependable people and things that i'm sure of. [2]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Angst, Bartenders, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Families of Choice, Family Reunions, Female Friendship, Friends With Benefits, Friendship, Gay Bar, Gay Character, Gay Male Character, Getting Together, HIV/AIDS, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Sex, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Lesbian Character, M/M, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Recreational Drug Use, Rehabilitation, Restaurants, Slow Burn, Teenagers, Threesome - F/F/F, Waiters & Waitresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:34:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 76,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24572380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: “Lovely witch's hat, Moira!”Moira glanced towards where the voice had come from and waved, a big grin on her face. “Thanks, honey! Nice clown outfit you are wearing there!”Charles cracked up laughing next to her, pushing himself off the counter and glancing at his watch. “Peter should be back by now.”“I know that you've assumed this pseudo father role with him since Erik is gone, but relax, Charles. Peter is probably talking to his friends after school.”Charles forced himself to take a deep breath. “I am acting this way because Erik would want someone to, and no one else seems to understand how dangerous it is for him out there.”or: It's been nine months since Erik disappeared. While everyone is trying to move on with their lives, Charles is finding that particularly difficult. Thank goodness Sebastian is there to understand when no one else does. Meanwhile, Erik's journey takes a much different path than he'd been expecting when he makes one simple mistake. But really, that mistake's the best thing that could have happened to him.sequel to now it's over. now i'm awake.**REPOST**
Relationships: Emma Frost/Moira MacTaggert/Angel Salvadore, Erik Lehnsherr & Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, John Allerdyce/Bobby Drake, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: dependable people and things that i'm sure of. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1776067
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is likely to never be finished but I may revisit it someday when my writer's block has completely left me. but for now, reposted by request.

“Lovely witch's hat, Moira!”

Moira glanced towards where the voice had come from and waved, a big grin on her face. “Thanks, honey! Nice clown outfit you are wearing there!”

Charles cracked up laughing next to her, pushing himself off the counter and glancing at his watch. “Peter should be back by now.”

“I know that you've assumed this pseudo father role with him since Erik is gone, but relax, Charles. Peter is probably talking to his friends after school.”

Charles forced himself to take a deep breath. “I am acting this way because Erik would want someone to, and no one else seems to understand how dangerous it is for him out there.”

“Honey, it's not as dangerous as you're thinking it is,” Moira said, reaching for her order book when some new customers walked in. “Take a deep breath and go down to the club. Sebastian's already down there and I'm sure he'd be more than willing to take your mind off things for a while.”

“Oh, I know he would be,” Charles said as she walked away. “Where the fuck are you, Peter?”

“I'm right here,” came Peter's voice, and Charles breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him emerge from the back. “Chill.”

“I am just trying to make sure that nothing happens to you.”

“And I am just trying to tell you that I'm fine,” Peter said, walking behind the counter and grabbing an apron. “Am I late for my shift or something? Because I thought that was supposed to start at four.”

“You're not late,” Hank said as he walked into the room. “Charles is just freaking out over nothing again.”

“It is not nothing!” Charles exclaimed.

“Charles, he's in prison,” Hank said calmly. “There has been no retribution towards you or Darwin for nine months. Nothing is going to happen.”

“But what if something happened to Erik?” Charles asked quietly, and Peter took one look at Hank before slipping around him and heading towards the kitchen. 

Hank walked over to Charles and pulled him into a hug, squeezing tightly when Charles sighed. “We know that nothing has happened to him because we know that he has been accessing his money. There have been withdrawals made out of his personal account every few weeks. He's fine, Charles.”

“Then why isn't he here?” Charles asked into Hank's shoulder. “We need him here.”

“He'll come back soon,” Hank said unconvincingly.

“You've been saying that for nine months.”

“Well, I'm going to continue to believe it until he does come home. And I know that he will. There's no way he's just going to walk away from all of this for the rest of his life. Erik's not like that.”

Charles pulled back. “Yeah, well, I've been told that Erik's not like this either.”

“He'll be back soon, Charles,” Hank said, glancing around. “Where is Sean?”

“I'm right here,” Sean said, walking back behind the counter. “Charles, Sebastian wants you to come down into the club.”

“Go on, Charles,” Hank said, smiling at him. “I'll handle things up here.”

Charles stared at both of them for a moment before heading towards the door that led into the club. He waved at Kitty behind the bar before heading backstage, knocking on the dressing room door and opening it when he heard the permission. “Hi, honey.”

“Charles, darling!” Sebastian said, standing up and grinning at him. “I'm glad Sean told you to come down here. I was worried that hussy wouldn't.”

“I was planning on coming down here in a few minutes anyway,” Charles said, walking over to Sebastian and falling into his embrace. “Peter was late.”

“Is Peter here now?”

“Yes.”

“Then he's fine, Charles. No need to worry.”

“I'm apparently the only person that sees the need to worry,” Charles mumbled. “Darwin has started agreeing with everyone else.”

“Because there's really no reason to worry,” Sebastian said simply. “But there is a difference between reason and need, and after what that motherfucker did to you, I can completely understand that you still have that need.”

“Why are you the only one that understands that?” Charles said, turning his face into Sebastian's neck. 

“Because I'm the only one you've really talked to about everything,” Sebastian said softly, brushing a kiss along Charles's head. “While I've been trying to make everyone understand that things were that horrible for you, and they've been hearing that from Darwin as well, it's really difficult for them to understand without knowing everything. And before you say anything, yes, I know, you don't want everyone to know everything. But you have to see where the disconnect is there, right?”

Charles stayed silent and Sebastian brushed another kiss along his head. “Darling, it's okay. I know that it might be a very long time before you can accept that, but it really is okay.”

Charles swallowed hard. “Thank you,” he whispered, “for just understanding.”

“I said I would do whatever it is I needed to in order to help you, Charles, and I meant that. If that means just understanding that you don't want everyone to know stuff then it's really that simple.”

Charles took a couple of deep breaths before pulling back, and it was then that he noticed what Sebastian was wearing. “Do I dare even ask what character you're playing in the Spooktacular?”

“Countess Dracula, of course.”

Charles raised an eyebrow. “Countess Dracula?”

“Oh, I know, it doesn't look like much now, but just you wait. I've got this gorgeous red and black lace top that I found in that vintage store over on Sixteenth, and it has this fabulous lace hip drape and long sleeves. And then I went to a costume shop and found this.” Sebastian walked across the room and pulled a hanger off the rack. “It's a satin back train skirt that was part of this Elvira costume, and I just knew it would be perfect with fishnets. And then I got a red velvet lace-up waist cincher, a choker with a big, stand-up, vampire collar, and the matching hat from this other vampire costume that they had. I suppose I should have just bought the costume, but this looks ten million times better than the costume would have.”

Charles shook his head. “And I suppose what I'm wearing got the same treatment?”

“I swear to God, Charles, you need to get into the details,” Sebastian said, putting the hanger back on the rack and picking up another one. “You are wearing this fabulous pair of black trousers, a white button-down shirt, a black lace vest, a maroon ascot, and a tattered black cape with a silver neck chain. And once you get dressed, we need to slick back your hair, and get you the fangs and fake blood, and then you're ready to go.”

Charles reached out to grab Sebastian by the arm. “Fake blood?”

“You have to make it look like you've bitten people. Like you've drank some blood,” Sebastian exclaimed. “It's in the refrigerator in the loft. You watched me make it earlier.”

“That disgusting mix of corn syrup and food coloring is fake blood?”

“Corn syrup, food coloring, and liquid soap,” Sebastian corrected, grabbing another hanger off the rack and shoving them into Charles's hands. “The soap makes it easier for it to come off later. I know what I doing. We do this every year for the Spooktacular.”

“If you say so,” Charles said warily. “Just make sure I don't have a red stain all over my face for the next week, okay?”

“Stop being so paranoid! Now go get dressed! I'll grab the fake blood and then we can get you all ready for tonight.”

Charles stared at the clothes in his hands for a moment before heading in the direction of the bathroom. “Alright, I'm trusting you with this.”

“Trust me always, darling. I'm always right.”

Charles laughed. “No, you're not.”

**********

Kitty groaned and pulled the pillow off her head, reaching over Marie and grabbing the phone off the bedside table. “What?”

“Kitty?”

Kitty shook her head to try and shake off the last tendrils of sleep, certain that she wasn't actually hearing the voice that she thought she was hearing. “Erik?”

“Yeah,” drifted the voice through the phone, making Kitty put her head face down in the pillow. “It's me. Um, I hope that you don't mind that I'm calling.”

Kitty shifted until she was laying on her side, the phone pressed between her ear and the pillow, Marie's arm coming to wrap around her waist. “No, no. I was just asleep, that's all.”

“Shit, I'm sorry. I thought I waited long enough for you to be awake.”

Kitty blinked and glanced over at the table, sighing when she realized it was almost four o'clock. “No, I should be. It's a good thing you called, actually. I don't think the alarm got set this morning.”

“Too busy sticking your tongue down Marie's throat?”

Kitty laughed. “She was the sexiest nurse I've ever seen last night, honey! You better believe I was.”

“So things went alright last night then?”

“Yeah, everything was fine.” Kitty paused. “Well, no one knew where Charles was, but other than that, it was great.”

She heard a sharp intake of breath. “How he's doing?”

“He's an absolute mess, sweetie, but I think you probably knew that already. And yet, in some ways, he's better than he was before. It's an interesting dichotomy.” Kitty smiled when she felt a soft kiss along the back of her neck. “How are you doing?”

Erik was silent for a moment. “Better, I think. I'm not really sure. I'm pretty much a mess too.”

Kitty felt her heart break at the despairing tone of Erik's voice. “Do you want me to come meet you somewhere? We could talk over coffee or dinner or something.”

“I, um...I'm not in New York.”

Kitty sighed as Marie plastered herself along her back, glancing back to send an apologetic look towards her lover. “Well, then, where are you, honey?”

“I don't really want to...” Erik trailed off and Kitty could hear another voice in the background, her eyes widening when she recognized it. “Look, I'm not ready for that yet.”

“It's fine,” Kitty said quickly, forcing herself to stop and take a deep breath. “Maybe next time you call.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Kitty pushed Marie off of her and rolled onto her back, her eyes searching out Marie's. “Honey, please tell me that you have at least seen a doctor and that you're taking care of yourself.”

“Jubilee told everyone, hm?” Erik said quietly.

“Just me. You know Jubes. She had to tell someone before she burst. She didn't want to tell Theresa because she knew that Theresa would just go tell everybody so I swore that I wouldn't say a word and I've kept that promise. But please tell me you have been seeing a doctor, Erik. That's important.”

“No,” he murmured. “I'm not...I can't deal with that right now.”

Kitty sighed heavily. “Honey, you have to deal with it right now. You need to be on medication to help keep yourself healthy and not in danger.”

“I just...look, I just wanted to see how last night went. I've got to go.”

Kitty slumped down in defeat. “Erik, do you want me to tell anyone that you called?”

“No,” Erik said quickly. “I'm not ready for that either.”

Kitty pulled Marie down to her and nodded even though she knew Erik couldn't see it. “Then I won't say anything.”

“Okay. Thanks, KitKat.”

Kitty sighed. “Any time, honey.”

Kitty pulled the phone away from her ear after hearing it click and buried her face in Marie's neck, clinging to her. “Oh my God.”

Marie plucked the phone from her fingers and set it over on the table, brushing a kiss along Kitty's head. “What is it?”

“He's in Los Angeles with Raven,” Kitty mumbled, pulling back to look Marie in the eyes. “I mean, he didn't say that, but I heard Raven in the background so I know that's where he is. And I promised I wouldn't say anything to anyone about it.”

Marie kissed Kitty softly. “Are you going to keep that promise?”

“I don't know,” Kitty admitted. “I don't know if I can, and I don't know if I should. He's...they're all so mad at him for taking off like that, but Jubes saw was he was like that day and she told me how terrified he is. And because she told me that Erik's positive, I know that he needs help. Medical help for sure because he's not taking care of himself properly and maybe even mental help because he's definitely not dealing with this, and I highly doubt he's getting that kind of help from Raven. I'm not sure that I can just let this go knowing how much he needs our help.”

“Sounds to me like you've already made up your mind about that promise.” Marie settled down next to her. “So, what are you going to do then? Go to Los Angeles and try to find him?”

Kitty snuggled closer to her and sighed. “I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to do that. I don't know my way around Los Angeles. But I've got to do something.”

“Well, maybe take some time to think about it, hm?” Marie wrapped her arms around Kitty's waist and closed her eyes, smiling when she felt Kitty place a kiss on her nose. 

“Yeah,” Kitty said, putting her head down on the pillow. “But not too much time.”

**********

“Darwin, where were you last night? Moira and Peter had to work the dinner rush alone.”

“I called in.”

“That doesn't explain why you had to call in.”

Darwin sighed and turned towards Charles. “I couldn't leave Alex alone. I'm sorry.”

“Is he ever going to feel comfortable coming here?” Charles asked, his tone softening. “Because Hank and Scott have made it clear there is a place for him here.”

“He's finding the transition very difficult,” Darwin admitted. “Ororo keeps saying that it's normal after going through something like this, but Alex doesn't like to leave the apartment unless it's to go to her office. I'm working on it, I really am, but when all he wants to do is lay around and get high, it's really difficult. And then I found out last night that he has been leaving the apartment when I'm not there, and it became something I needed to deal with immediately.”

“What is he doing?” Charles asked, confused. “I mean, you just said he doesn't like to leave the apartment.”

“When he first started talking, I thought that all he was doing was leaving to go get drugs. But then I started wondering where he was getting the money for the drugs from, and that's when he told me he'd started selling himself again, so I made the decision to try and get that straightened out above anything else. So, once again, I'm sorry that I called in and missed out on Halloween. I know that's a really big night for us.”

“He's selling himself again?” Charles said softly. “I don't even know what to say about that.”

“I don't really have much to say about it anyway,” Darwin said. “I made an appointment with Ororo for this afternoon. He's going to that whether he wants to or not. Hank already said I could leave early.”

“Whatever it is you need, baby. I just feel like there's so much more we could be doing for Alex.”

“Someday,” Darwin said hopefully. “But we're a long way away from someday right now, I think.”

Darwin looked up when the door opened and Charles patted him on the shoulder. “Get back to work.”

Charles turned and sat down at the counter, nodding at Sean when he held up a coffee cup. Sean set the full cup in front of him a moment later and Charles smiled at him. “What are you trying out today, baby?”

“Today it's a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with french fries,” Sean said, reaching up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind his ear. “You want one?”

Charles nodded again and Sean turned back to the grill as Bobby sat down on the stool next to Charles's. “You weren't around last night, Charles.”

“I was too.”

“If you were there last night, how come no one fucking saw you?”

“Sebastian did,” Charles murmured, taking a long sip of his coffee. “I wanted to lay low last night, so that's what I did. Didn't feel up to being the life of the party.”

Bobby huffed. “It figures that hussy knew where you were and didn't tell anybody. He fucking knew that we were all looking for you.”

“Don't call him that. Sebastian has been great the last few months and you know it,” Charles said, leaning over and kissing Bobby on the forehead. “I'm sorry if I worried you. I just knew that it wasn't a good idea for me to be in the middle of that crowd last night.”

“Then I'm glad that you weren't,” Bobby said, glancing up at Sean set a plate in front of Charles. 

Charles shook his head and looked up at Sean, biting back a laugh. “This is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich?”

Sean sighed. “I think it's a little overcooked.”

“No,” Charles said, unable to keep the laughter from coming. “I think everyone enjoys their sandwiches with burnt bread.”

Sean pouted and pulled the plate back, tossing its contents into the trash. “Just for that, you're going to have to sit there until I get it right.”

“That's alright, honey,” Charles said, bringing his cup to his lips. “I've got all the time in the world.”

“How about you make me one too?” Bobby said, nodding when Sean looked at him. “I need to eat before I go get the club ready anyway.”

“Then two perfectly cooked sandwiches are coming right up!” Sean exclaimed, turning back to the stove. “Well, maybe not right up, but soon, I promise!”


	2. Chapter 2

“What's Raven's DJ handle?” Marie asked.

“DJ Mystique.” Kitty pulled a shirt out of the closet and held it up, staring at it before shaking her head and putting it back. “Why?”

Marie finished typing and hit search, smiling when a link came up. “Because I just found her Facebook page. Want to bet that's got where she's spinning on it?”

“Raven has a Facebook page?” Kitty asked, dropping the pants she was holding to the floor and rushing over to the bed, settling onto it next to Marie. “Well, I suppose that would make sense. I know Vanessa has one.”

Marie waited for the page to finish loading and scrolled down, pointing at the screen when a list of appearances showed up. “She's spinning at Oil Can Harry's tomorrow night.”

“Oil Can Harry's?”

“It's a huge club on Ventura Boulevard,” Marie said, glancing at Kitty. “Bella takes me there whenever I'm out in Los Angeles.”

Kitty let that information sink in for a moment. “So you would know where that is then?”

“I'll go with you if you want,” Marie said quickly. “I don't have anything booked until next Wednesday.”

“Can we even get flights this late in the day?” Kitty asked. “And shit, what am I going to do about work?”

“Call in sick,” Marie said, starting to type again. “I'll find us a flight.”

Kitty climbed off the bed and went back to the closet, pulling a suitcase out of the bottom of it and setting it on the bed. “Bobby will totally know that I'm lying.”

“So don't call Bobby. Call someone else.”

“Bobby's my boss,” Kitty said before an idea struck her and she reached towards the phone. “Scott is his boss though, and Scott would let me off work for a few days.”

Marie glanced up as Kitty started pulling things from the closet and tossing them towards the suitcase. “There's a nine-forty from JFK to LAX.”

“Book it,” Kitty said, nearly dropping the phone once she heard someone answer on the other end. “Scott? Hey baby, it's Kitty. Listen, I need a few days off work and I can't really tell you why. I just need you to trust me.”

Marie sighed and looked up, catching Kitty's attention. “Babe, toss me my wallet, will you?”

“I know Bobby is my boss but I didn't think I could trust him with this,” Kitty said, walking towards the kitchen and grabbing the wallet from Marie's purse. “It's massively important and I will totally explain it to you as soon as I get back, okay? I just really need to do this and it has to be now.”

Marie looked up again when Kitty called her name and reached up to snag the wallet out of the air, searching through it for her credit card. “We've got to get moving. It's already almost five.”

“Scott, honey, I love you, I really do. I'll see you when I get back.” Kitty grinned as she hung up the phone. “He gave me the whole week off. When are you booking the return flights for?”

“I didn't,” Marie said, setting the laptop to the side and jumping up, heading towards where the printer was set up in the living room. “We'll figure that out once we're out there.”

Kitty grabbed some more clothes and walked over to the suitcase, leaning down on it and sighing heavily. “Tell me I'm doing the right thing.”

Marie walked back into the room and set the papers with their confirmation number down, wrapping her arms around Kitty and kissing her softly. “You're doing the right thing. I promise.”

Kitty took a couple of deep breaths before nodding. “Then I guess we better get to packing. It takes forever to check in at JFK and we still haven't had dinner.”

**********

“What the fuck do you mean that Kitty has the week off?” Jubilee screeched.

“I mean exactly what I said,” Scott answered. “Kitty has something going on that needs to be attended to immediately, and therefore I gave her the week off.”

“So I'm supposed to handle the bar by myself for a week?” Jubilee exclaimed. “Fucking hell.”

“I'll be behind the bar with you,” Scott soothed. “I'm not going to leave you hanging like that.”

Jubilee took a moment to calm herself. “Thank you. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go bitch Kitty out.”

Scott just shook his head as Jubilee ducked underneath the bar. “Don't do that, Jubes. Whatever this is, it's a big deal.”

“The fuck it is!” Jubilee yelled out as she walked out of the room. 

“That sounds like it isn't good,” came Jean's voice, and Scott smiled as she came into view.

“Hey. Want a drink?” Jean nodded and Scott reached for the whiskey. “You look like you had a long day.”

“That's because I did,” Jean said, leaning up against the bar. “But once I was done in court, I decided the work that's at my office could wait and I came here instead.”

“Why didn't you go home?” Scott asked, grabbing a glass and pouring the whiskey into it. 

“Because I was planning on coming here for dinner and I needed to talk to Charles anyway,” Jean said, murmuring thanks as she accepted the glass. “The lawyer in charge of the Xavier estate contacted me again.”

“He ready to accept his inheritance yet?”

“Nope,” Jean said after a long sip. “He's not ready for the attention and I can understand that, but this Trask guy is insistent that it can all be done quietly and that there is no need for public announcements. I tried reminding him that the public already assumes that Charles has inherited the estate, but that didn't seem to help any.”

Scott nodded as he poured his own drink. “He's been very down recently.”

“Ororo was telling me that at lunch today. She said Darwin is doing the best out of the three of them.”

“Yeah, this Alex guy has apparently taken a few steps back,” Scott said. “He still won't come in here.”

Jean thought about who Alex really was again and bit back the urge to tell Scott the truth. “I'm sure that he'll find that strength eventually. He can't stay in that apartment forever.”

“Well, I think that he's trying to make that a possibility.” Scott looked up when Jubilee came storming back into the room. “Jubes, calm down.”

“Fuck off,” Jubilee exclaimed. “Hello, Jean.”

“Hi, honey,” Jean said, smiling at her. “Whatever it is, Jubes, it can't be that bad.”

“You have no idea,” Jubilee said firmly. “I am going out to the door to see my girlfriend. I will be back sometime before open. You can do all the prep since you're the bastard that gave Kitty the week off.”

Jubilee spun around and stalked out of the room before Scott could say a thing, and Jean turned back to him with a bemused look on her face. “You gave Kitty the week off?”

“Something important is going on and she needed time off so I gave it to her. Jubes is overreacting about it,” Scott said, shrugging. “I will be behind the bar with her for the next week, so I'm going to have to reschedule our dinner on Tuesday.”

“That's fine,” Jean said, taking a deep breath. “I wanted to talk to you about dinner anyway.”

“Did you change your mind on where you want to go?” Scott asked as he turned around, surveying the wall behind him for what was needed.

“No, the restaurant is fine,” Jean said, taking another breath. “I was wondering what you thought about the possibility of turning the dinner into a date.”

Scott froze, certain that he had not heard what he thought he'd heard. “A date?”

“If you don't want to, that's fine,” Jean said quickly. “I just...things changed when you got shot and I've sort of been wanting to bring this up for forever, but I needed to make sure that what I was feeling was not just a reaction to that. And it's not. But I'll get over it. It's fine.”

Scott turned around and watched Jean down the rest of her drink. “I would love to go on a date with you, Jean,” he said softly. “I've wanted that for longer than you might think.”

“Really?” Scott nodded and Jean smiled. “Then why didn't you say anything?”

“Well, you had someone for one thing. I'm a fucking coward for another.”

“I had someone? This goes all the way back to Logan for you?”

“I told you. I've wanted this for longer than you might think.”

Jean reached across the bar and grabbed Scott's hand, smiling at him. “Well, I'm glad that we're doing something about it now then.”

“Me too,” Scott said, glancing over at the clock. “Fuck, I don't have as much time as I thought.”

“Then I'll go upstairs and let you get to work,” Jean said, letting go of his hand. “But I am really looking forward to dinner, whenever it is we have it.”

“Me too,” Scott said, grinning at her. “Dinner's on the house tonight. You've done too much for all of us recently.”

“That's really not necessary.”

“Maybe not, but I'm doing it anyway.”

Jean laughed. “Well, I might have to order dessert then.”

“Order the whole menu if you want!” Scott called out, prompting Jean to laugh all the way to the door.

Once she'd left the room, Scott turned back to the wall and tried to concentrate, but all he could think about was the fact that he was going to go on a date with Jean.

Holy shit.

**********

“Emma, come on,” Sean whined. “You can totally tell me. I won't tell anyone.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “You are a gossip queen. I don't believe that for a second.”

“Yeah, I love gossip, but come on, I'm totally capable of keeping a secret for a friend,” Sean huffed, pushing open the door and pulling Emma into the café. “I know all sorts of shit about Sebastian that would make your head spin, but I don't go around blabbing about it.”

Emma sighed as they made their way to a table in the back, dropping down into a seat and reaching for a menu. “Because Sebastian would rip off your dick if you did.”

“Well, yeah,” Sean said as he sat down. “But that's not the point. The point is that when something is told to me in confidence, it stays that way. There's plenty of other things to gossip about.”

“Like what?”

Sean rolled his eyes. “Like the fact that Jean was totally eyeing Scott up all night on Halloween? Or that Charles practically drools all over himself if you mention Erik in a happy fashion in front of him? And the little bit of discontent that's been brewing between Bobby and Johnny. There's plenty to gossip about, bitch. Plenty.”

“Discontent between Bobby and Johnny? I think you're just seeing things.” Emma flipped open the menu and glanced through it. “They're like the most stable thing in the world.”

“Yeah, but something is up. Trust me.” Sean reached out and grabbed the menu from Emma's hands. “And stop trying to change the subject.”

Emma glared at him. “I was looking at that.”

“You're just going to order the same fucking thing you always order,” Sean pointed out.

Emma sighed heavily. “Look, Sean, I can't talk to you about this, okay?”

“I'm just trying to be a good friend, girl. You look like you desperately need to talk about this.”

“I just...” Emma trailed off as the waitress approached their table. “I don't want to talk about this anymore, okay?”

Sean pouted at her as they gave the waitress their orders, slumping down in his seat and staring up at the ceiling as she walked away. “I'm just worried, honey. I saw the look in your eyes when Moira brought up Angel. You were terrified.”

“Because it's not fucking easy to talk about,” Emma said, leaning forward and grabbing Sean's hand. “Don't worry, sweetie, okay?”

“That's not possible,” Sean said, bringing his gaze down to look at her. “I worry about everyone. That's why I gossip so much, alright? I feel better when I know what's going on with everybody because that means I'm not worrying about that. But right now I don't know what's going on with you and so I'm worrying. I don't know where Erik is or how he's doing, and even though I'm mad as hell at him for taking off like that, I'm worried. Something is up with Bobby and Johnny, and I'm worried. It's what I do, honey. I worry.”

Emma stood up and moved around to Sean's side of the table, sitting down in the other chair and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “I love you, honey.”

“I love you too, girl,” Sean said, tilting his head to lean it on Emma's shoulder. “And I'm going to worry like hell until you tell me what's going on.”

Emma sighed heavily. “I've been fucking Angel again.”

“I knew that already.”

“Yeah, but it's like turned into more of a serious relationship sort of thing, and now there's this other component to it and I don't know what to do about it.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that Angel has been spending a ton of time with Moira, and so things have developed that I was not expecting.”

“So the girlfriend has a friendship with the ex. What's so wrong about that?”

“And now we're at the part where it's difficult to talk about, so I'm going to stop there,” Emma said, shaking her head. “I've told you too much already.”

“Emma! Come on!”

Emma brushed a kiss across Sean's forehead. “No. Now tell me about this thing with Charles. Are you trying to tell me that you think he has a thing for him?”

“Oh, Charles so has a thing for Erik,” Sean said confidently. “And based upon my observations of Erik when he was here, I think he has a thing for Charles too.”

“Hm,” Emma hummed. “Interesting. Very interesting.”

“It totally is,” Sean agreed. “But until Erik comes back, nothing can be done about it.”

“You really think he's coming back?”

“What? You don't?”

“I don't know anymore,” Emma said honestly. “I thought it would be a few weeks tops.”

“He'll be back,” Sean said confidently. “I'm sure of it.”

Emma sighed. “I hope so, honey. I really hope so. I miss him.”

“Me too,” Sean murmured. “Me too.”

**********

John crawled into bed and reached out to turn off the light, slumping down to the mattress and letting out a soft groan. Bobby slid across the sheets and pressed himself along John's back, dropping a kiss onto his neck. “Not tonight, baby. I'm fucking exhausted.”

Bobby pulled back as if he'd been stung. “Fine,” he muttered, turning so his back to John and sighing heavily. “I was just going to ask how the show was.”

“It was a fucking disaster,” John grumbled, grabbing his pillow and pulling it over his head. “Now leave me the fuck alone and let me sleep.”

Bobby pulled his pillow close and hugged it to his chest, sighing as he pushed the sheets back and climbed from the bed. He walked over to the closet and got out a blanket before making his way out to the living room and dropping down on the sofa.

John pulled the pillow off his head and glanced towards the now-empty side of the bed. “Where the fuck are you going?”

“Don't want to disturb you,” Bobby called out, propping his pillow up against the arm of the sofa and laying down, draping the blanket over him.

“Baby,” John said, rolling onto his back and sighing heavily. “I didn't mean for you to fucking leave.”

Bobby pulled the blanket up to his chest and reached up to push at the pillow, making it more comfortable. “Lately, there is a lot of things you don't mean, John. I am just trying to prevent an argument.”

John ran his hands over his face, shaking his head. “There is no fucking argument, Bobby. I just want to fucking sleep.”

“So sleep,” Bobby called back, glancing over at the clock before closing his eyes. 

John dropped his hands back to the bed in frustration. “Come back to bed, Bobby.”

“No, I am fine right here,” Bobby said, shifting onto his side and pressing up against the back of the sofa.

“Why the fuck are you turning this into a bigger deal than it fucking is?”

Bobby huffed. “No, that would be you, John. You want to sleep so badly, then sleep. The only thing stopping you right now is yourself.”

“Fine, whatever,” John exclaimed, grabbing his pillow and stuffing it underneath his head. He laid in silence for a few minutes before groaning loudly and tossing the pillow across the room. “Now I can't fucking sleep because I'm thinking you're out there mad at me.”

“I am not mad at you,” Bobby said, yawning. “If anyone is mad, that would be you.”

“I'm not fucking mad at you!” John yelled, kicking the sheets off and climbing out of the bed, stalking out of the room to stand near the sofa. “I'm not the one who fucking got up and left our bed!”

“And I'm not the one who is standing in the middle of the living room yelling,” Bobby said calmly, refusing to open his eyes.

John threw his hands up in disgust. “Well, I'm only doing that because you won't come back to bed!”

“I don't know why you think I'm eager to go crawl into bed with you when you're in a mood like this,” Bobby said, fighting off another yawn. “Something happened at the show tonight, didn't it?”

“You've lost your fucking mind,” John exclaimed, kicking at the sofa. “Why don't you just fucking say it to my face already? You've been implying it for weeks now.”

Bobby's eyes shot open and he sat up, growling in anger. “Do you think that I am stupid? Do you think that I don't hear about these things? I speak to a lot of your dancers, John, and they think it's only right that I know what the fuck it is you're up to. I don't have to fucking say anything. We both already know that I know.”

“They are a bunch of dim-witted bitches who don't know enough to have a real job so they shake their asses for money. They don't fucking anything, and they sure as hell don't have any business talking to you like they do.” John kicked the sofa again. “I don't fucking need this tonight, Robert. Now get up and come back to bed.”

Bobby laid back down and closed his eyes again. “No.”

“Fine.” John talked back into the bedroom and slammed the door behind him, picking up his pillow from the floor and tossing it back onto the bed. “Nothing fucking happened tonight, by the way! Not that you'd care! Your mind is already made up!”

Bobby sighed. “I wish I could believe that.”


	3. Chapter 3

Kitty woke up and glanced around, blinking rapidly. “Where am I?”

“Bella's apartment,” Marie called out from somewhere else in the room, prompting Kitty to roll over onto her back and prop herself up by her elbows.

“I thought we were going to a hotel,” Kitty said, finally spotting Marie sitting at the vanity and putting her mascara on.

“We were but then you fell asleep in the back of Bella's car, and since we didn't have a reservation she said we could just crash here.” Marie stopped and turned towards Kitty, smiling. “She's going to come with us tonight.”

At the mention of why they were in Los Angeles, Kitty groaned, dropping back to the bed. “I have to figure out what I'm going to say to Raven. How I'm even going to get close to her.”

“You can dance right in front of the booth,” Marie said, setting the mascara down and reaching for an eyebrow pencil. “We'll make sure to get you front and center so she can see you.”

Kitty sighed and climbed from the bed, walking over and putting her arms around Marie's shoulders. “And what if Raven doesn't want to talk to me?”

“Then we keep trying until she does,” Marie said, putting down the pencil and spinning around on the stool to face Kitty. “We've got all week.”

“I know,” Kitty said, straddling Marie's hips and settling herself down in her lap. “I'm just worried.”

Marie wrapped her arms around Kitty's waist and pulled her into a kiss. “Maybe we should do something to distract you then, hm?”

Kitty smiled and grabbed onto Marie's shirt, tugging it over her head. “What about Bella?”

“Bella's at work,” Marie mumbled, trembling as Kitty's hands glided over her skin. “She won't be home until at least seven.”

Kitty laughed and stood up, pulling Marie towards the bed. “It would be awfully rude of us to fuck in her apartment, wouldn't it?”

“Remind me later to tell you the story of how I found her fucking some trade in my bed,” Marie breathed out, watching entranced as Kitty pulled her bra off and tossed it away. “I think it's time for a little payback.”

“In that case,” Kitty said teasingly, falling back on the bed, “distract away.”

Marie growled and climbed onto the bed, covering Kitty's body with her own and smiling down at her. “You mean you don't want to go sightseeing?” she teased back.

“Shut up and fuck me,” Kitty declared, pulling Marie into a deep kiss.

Marie grasped Kitty's hands and pulled them above her head, lips leaving Kitty's and trailing down to suck on the curve of her neck. Kitty arched into the touch, a delicious moan spilling from her lips, her eyes drifting closed as Marie slowly slid down her body.

Marie was just about to slide Kitty's panties down when she heard the opening of a door, her head shooting up to glance towards the main part of the apartment. 

“Bella, bitch, where are you?”

“Shit,” Marie murmured, pulling back and glancing down at Kitty, who was looking up at her with wide eyes. “That's Remy.”

“Who is Remy?” Kitty asked, pouting when Marie climbed off the bed and started tossing clothes at her.

“Someone who sure as fuck shouldn't be here,” Marie said, grabbing her shirt and pulling it back on. “I'll try to get rid of him. Stay here.”

Kitty nodded as Marie walked out of the room, running her hands through her hair as she headed towards the kitchen. “Remy?”

“Marie!” Remy exclaimed, walking out of the kitchen and pulling Marie into his arms. “What on earth are you doing here?”

“I should ask you the same thing,” Marie said, hugging him back.

“Just looking for my favorite hairstylist,” Remy said, pulling back and looking around. “Where is the crazy bitch at anyway?”

“At a job,” Marie said, looking back towards the bedroom where Kitty still was. “I thought you were supposed to be in Mexico.”

“Just got back from Cabo. I came back because I need to round up my favorite people for the shoot of a lifetime!” Remy moved over to the sofa and sat down, propping his feet up on the table. “Which is why I am also glad to see you. I was sure I'd have to go all the way to New York to track you down.”

Marie glanced at the bedroom again. “Why don't you come back when Bella is here and we can all talk about it together?”

Remy followed Marie's gaze and started to laugh. “Don't even tell me you've got someone in there. I thought you were supposed to be all monogamous and boring now.”

“I am,” Marie said defensively, “and the reason for that is in that room. We were about to have really great sex when you showed up.”

Remy laughed some more. “Perfect timing then!”

Marie sighed heavily. “Remy, I'll tell Bella that you stopped by.”

“Oh, no,” Remy said, shaking his head. “Go get her. I want to meet her.”

“Remy.”

“Marie. Come on! You've kept this girl in New York for far too long!” Remy exclaimed. “Isn't it time you let her out to play?”

“And why exactly would I want to subject her to an asshole like you?” Marie asked angrily.

Remy glanced up and then sat up straight, a huge grin on his face. “Because she's perfect.”

Marie watched as Remy stood up, following him with her eyes as Remy walked past her and headed towards the doorway where Kitty now stood. She sighed heavily and started walking towards them. “Remy, this is Kitty. Kitty, this is Remy LeBeau, the most insane person you will ever meet.”

“Hello, gorgeous,” Remy drawled, extending his hand towards Kitty. “It's lovely to finally meet you.”

Kitty shook his hand tentatively. “Nice to meet you. I think.”

“Alright, that settles it!” Remy exclaimed, turning around abruptly and heading towards the kitchen. “We're going to the studio.”

“Excuse me?” Kitty asked as Marie called out Remy's name.

“Beauty like this must be captured on film!” Remy called out. “Do not argue with me about this!”

Marie groaned and threw her hands up, coming towards Kitty and kissing her softly. “It's best not to argue with him when he's in a mood like this. It's far less troubling to just go along with him to the studio.”

“He wants to take my picture?” Kitty asked quietly.

“Something like that,” Marie said, pushing Kitty back into the bedroom. “He's not going to do it, that's for sure. I'll explain on the way to the studio, okay? Bella will kill me if I let Remy roam loose around her place for too long.”

**********

Moira ignored the looks of a few passing strangers and pulled her knees tighter to her chest, resting her forehead on top of one. She was an idiot, an absolute, motherfucking, stupid idiot. In hindsight, she could see all the signs. The secretiveness of the party's location, the darkened hallway that led down to the door, the special knock and the specific answer that she had to give to get in. The second it had been explained to her, she should have made the decision not to go. But no, oh no, in all her infinite wisdom she had to believe that she could enjoy the party and avoid the rest of it. Like that had ever worked before.

She glanced up as a car whipped around the corner and into the empty parking lot, watching as it came to a stop about ten feet away from her. She heard the driver's door open and took a deep breath, ignoring the sounds of footsteps while praying for the passenger's door to open too. Her head dropped as Angel sat down beside her, cursing herself for being stupid enough to think that she would come.

“You did the right thing,” Angel said softly, wrapping an arm around Moira's shoulders and pulling her close. “Mors, listen to me. You did the right thing.”

“It was hard,” Moira whispered, her gaze refocusing on the passenger's door. “They offered me a hit and I really wanted it. Like, really, really wanted it.”

Angel shifted her arm and started gently stroking Moira's hair. “But you didn't take it.”

“No, I didn't,” Moira said, leaning her head onto Angel's shoulder. “I stumbled my way through some really pathetic excuse, ran out of there, and called you and Emmie.”

“And you did the right thing,” Angel said patiently, “so stop thinking that either one of us is mad at you.”

“Of course she's mad at me,” Moira whispered, barely holding back a sniffle before shaking her head. “I thought that maybe we had started to become friends again, you know? She seemed like she was interested in how I was doing, in how things were going at work on the days we had different shifts. But I guess I was wrong.”

Angel sighed heavily and stood up, grabbing Moira's hand and pulling her up too. “How about you go get in the car? I'll run across the street and grab another couple bottles of wine. We can go back to my place, have a few drinks, and talk this out. If you don't want to go back to Emma's, then you can crash at my place.”

Moira nodded and Angel handed her the keys before jogging across the street to the liquor store. Moira played with the keychain for a moment before walking towards the door she'd been staring at, grabbing the handle a little harder than was necessary and yanking it open roughly. She slid into the seat and slammed the door shut, tossing the keys into the driver's seat. She closed her eyes and let her head drop back against the headrest, sighing heavily.

“Did you take any of it?”

Moira's eyes shot open and she spun around to find Emma sitting in the backseat glaring at her. “Emmie?”

“Did you take any of it?” Moira's mouth opened and closed a couple of times but no words came out, and that drew an annoyed groan from Emma. “Answer my fucking question. Did you motherfucking take any of that shit?”

“No,” Moira said, shaking her head quickly, her hands trembling for an entirely different reason than they used to. “I swear to whatever fucking god you want that I didn't.”

Emma stared at her for a moment before taking a deep breath and relaxing into the seat, shoving her hands into her pockets. “This is the first time I've ever believed you when you've said that.”

Moira sighed in relief and slumped against the chair. “There were some times before when you should have. Not many, but there were a few.”

“I realized that later on,” Emma said softly, sliding across the seat to be closer to where Moira was. “I always had too many reasons to doubt you though. You have no idea how badly I've always wanted to believe you.”

Moira nodded lightly and Emma stared at her for a moment, mentally noting all the reasons why she could believe her. No full body shakes. No glazed look in her eyes. No hesitation in her voice. This was Moira, stone cold sober Moira, and Emma had no choice but to acknowledge that the woman sitting in front of her was finally the woman she'd always wanted her to be.

Emma slid forward and pulled Moira as close as she could, crushing their lips together in a bruising kiss. Moira melted into the kiss momentarily before the fact that Angel would be back at any moment crossed her mind. She shoved Emma away and blinked rapidly, confusion written across her face. “Emmie, what the fuck did you do that for?”

“Because I motherfucking love you,” Emma said, running her hands over her face. “I love you and I always will, and fuck, you don't know how fucking difficult this is for me because you're finally the way I always hoped you would be and now you're not mine. And I just...this thing with Angel has turned into something really fucking amazing, but I don't know how to react when she tells me that she knows that I'm still in love with you, and...I haven't motherfucking kissed you in years and I just want to, alright?”

Moira swallowed hard but let Emma pull her close again, moaning softly when their lips met. She'd missed Emma's kisses more than almost anything else, had dreamed of them during the long, cold nights of withdrawal. And she'd wanted to tell her that from the moment she saw her again, wanted to let Emma know that she was the reason Moira had finally cleaned herself up, wanted to explain that she had to lose the thing that made her whole to realize just how empty she had become, tell her that she'd realized no drug in the world could make her feel as high as being with Emma had. But she found Emma, and Emma had Angel, and she was happy, truly happy, for the first time in longer than Moira could remember, and she didn't want to ruin that for her because Emma deserved it.

Moira jumped when the driver's side door opened, shoving Emma away and staring wide-eyed at Angel when she ducked her head into the car. Angel looked back and forth between them before breaking out into a smile. “You two kissing is motherfucking hot, you know that?”

Emma laughed and sat back as Angel grabbed her keys from the driver's seat, sticking the correct one in the ignition before grabbing the bags with the wine and shoving them into the backseat. She sat down and started the car, turning to look at Moira and leaning across the console, pressing her lips gently to hers. “Mors, this whole situation will got a lot easier once Emma and you both realize that I don't mind that she loves you because I sort of do too, okay? Let's just go back to my place and have a few drinks and see where that takes us.”

“I can't show up to work drunk, Angel,” Emma said, leaning forward and kissing her softly. “And we should probably tell Moira about the conversation she interrupted with her phone call because I'm willing to bet she's confused as fuck right now.”

Angel put the car into drive and let it start rolling towards the parking lot's exit, stealing a glance at Moira as she put the turn signal on. “That's probably a good idea, Ems. But maybe you should kiss her again first. She looks like she's about to pass out from shock or something.”

**********

“Charles, honey, I think you've had enough,” Jubilee said carefully, squinting to try and judge just how drunk he was. “I mean, you've already gone through a bottle and a half of whiskey on your own.”

Charles looked up at her and shrugged, slumping forward against the bar. “I miss him, Jubes.”

Jubilee felt her heart break as she reached out and gently put her hand over Charles's. “I know, baby, I know. But drinking yourself to death isn't going to help that any.”

“Actually feel worse when I'm like this,” Charles slurred. “It hurts.”

Jubilee briefly closed her eyes and sent several silent curse words in Erik's direction. “Honey, how about I take you upstairs and you try to get some sleep? It can't hurt if you're unconscious.”

Charles nodded and Jubilee quickly made her way around the bar, exchanging worried glances with Scott along the way. Charles slung an arm around Jubilee's waist once she was next to him, leaning heavily against her. “You are a good one, Jubilee. One of the best people I've ever met. Scott should make you employee of the month. Or the year.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Jubilee said softly, brushing a kiss along Charles's cheek as they started to walk towards the stairs. “That's nice of you.”

“Mean it,” Charles said, stumbling over his feet as they went through a doorway. “Can't walk right tonight.”

“That's because you've had so much to drink,” Jubilee said patiently, steering them towards the staircase. “You know that Erik isn't going to be very happy about how much you're drinking once he gets back.”

Charles laughed bitterly. “He's not coming back. Am I the only one who has figured that out?”

“I can't believe that he would just give all of this up and abandon us forever,” Jubilee said as they slowly went up the stairs. “You'd think he'd sell the business or something if he wanted out, not just disappear.”

“He's not thinking clearly,” Charles said, digging into his pockets as they reached the top of the stairs, fumbling with the keys until Jubilee took them from his hands and found the right one. “Not that I blame him. He nearly died because of me. Of course he doesn't want to be around.”

Jubilee got the door open and helped Charles inside, tossing the keys onto the table as they headed towards the bed. “He didn't leave because he was shot, Charles. He left for another reason.”

“He did?” Charles mumbled, kicking off his shoes near the closet. “You know why?”

Jubilee just nodded and then let go of him as Charles dropped down onto the bed. “I do, but I promised him that I wouldn't tell anyone. I've got to get back down to the club anyway.”

Jubilee bent down to brush a kiss across Charles's lips but found herself being pulled onto the bed and kissed hard, Charles quickly rolling them over so he was lying on top of her. Jubilee squirmed around underneath him and tried to push him away, gasping when she felt Charles's hands slide underneath her shirt. She summoned all of her strength and rolled them over again, pushing up far enough to break the kiss. “Charles, what the fuck are you doing?”

“Need distraction,” Charles murmured, trying to capture Jubilee's lips again and whimpering when she managed to pull further away. “Come on, Jubes.”

Jubilee shoved Charles's hands away and quickly climbed off the bed, backing up until she was pressed up against the bedroom wall. She stared at Charles with wide eyes, breathing heavily. “Charles, honey, I don't know what this is but it's not what you really want.”

“Sometimes the tricks used to pick me up just so I could fuck their wives while they fucked me,” Charles mumbled, rolling onto his side and curling in on himself. “Just thought that maybe you'd be interested. I'm sorry.”

Jubilee sighed and pushed herself off the wall, sitting down on the edge of the bed and reached out to smooth Charles's hair. “Apology accepted, honey. You're too drunk to know what you're doing right now anyway. Get some sleep, okay? You look like you need it.”

Charles let out a choked sound and then pushed himself up, launching at Jubilee and clinging to her. Jubilee felt the wetness of tears against her throat and started to rub Charles's back comfortingly. “Don't cry, baby. He's not worth your tears.”

“Yes, he is,” Charles sobbed out, shifting closer to Jubilee. “And you fucking know it.”

Jubilee pressed a kiss behind Charles's ear, reached up to smooth his hair down again. “I know, sweetheart. I know.”

Charles started to cry even harder and Jubilee shifted them around so she was leaning back against the headboard, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone. She tapped out a quick message to Scott to tell him that it would be a while before she was back down at the bar before tossing the phone onto the bed and pulling Charles even closer. She wasn't exactly sure what else she should do short of telling Charles why Erik had left, so she decided to just let him cry.

She'd told Charles too much already, but hopefully, he wouldn't remember that by morning. The last thing she needed was everyone trying to get her to give up Erik's secret. But, she thought, maybe she should tell someone like Jean. Jean wouldn't go spreading it around the family but she'd understand why Erik did what he did and help to placate everyone else. 

Erik didn't deserve the reception he was going to get when he got back. That she knew without a shadow of a doubt. He needed love and support, not to be bitched out and threatened with physical violence. 

Maybe she should tell everyone.

Jubilee had a lot to think about.


	4. Chapter 4

The look on Kitty's face as she looked around the studio almost made Marie cringe in embarrassment. “So, um, Remy is a director. He makes, uh, films.”

“Porn,” Kitty stuttered, wrapping her arms around her waist as a loud moan echoed into the room from another part of the studio. “He makes...and he wants to...with me...”

Marie hurried to her side and wrapped her arms around Kitty. “And he's not doing it, I promise. He's just being a bitch. I'd never, ever let him do that to you.”

Kitty swallowed hard. “Why is this so uncomfortable? It's not like I've never watched this stuff.”

“Because it is,” Marie said, brushing a kiss along Kitty's temple. “I always feel weird whenever I work one of Remy's shoots.”

Kitty's eyes snapped back to her. “You work for him?”

“Sometimes,” Marie said, slightly defensively. “Nowhere near as much as I used to. Usually only for his big projects, which are like once a year. He's the one that gave me my first chance, and well, he's become a friend too so I try to help him out.”

“Your first chance?”

“Everybody's got to start somewhere, honey.”

Kitty dropped her head onto Marie's shoulder and slid her arms around her waist. “I know. I just...didn't know that about you. I knew you'd said you had worked on some films, but I didn't think you mean these kinds of films.”

“There have been some indie flicks too but I mostly concentrate on print and runway now,” Marie said, pulling Kitty closer. “You okay?”

Kitty nodded and pressed a kiss to Marie's shoulder. “The, um, soundtrack is just making me remember some unfinished business, that's all.”

Marie groaned softly and pulled Kitty even closer. “Oh, shit, I know what you mean. I promise, we'll humor Remy for a little while and then go back to the apartment so we have enough time to fuck before Bella gets home.”

“Marie! Gorgeous girl! Get over here!”

Kitty pulled back and pressed her lips to Marie's in a quick but hard kiss before plastering a smile on her face and walking over to where Remy was standing. Remy immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders and started walking her towards a round bed, gesturing wildly. “Do you have any idea how good you would look spread across this, wrists and ankles restrained, with a couple of muscular men having their way with you?”

“You are not making porn with my girlfriend,” Marie warned, walking over and pulling Kitty away from Remy's grasp. “Absolutely fucking not.”

Remy whined. “She's so fucking perfect for it though! I have been looking for someone for this script for ages and fucking hell if your girl doesn't fit the description to fucking perfection.”

“I, um,” Kitty squeaked out, shuffling closer to Marie. “I don't really want to do something like that. I mean, I'm not...like that.”

Remy moved closer to them and reached out to caress the side of Kitty's face. “You are so innocent looking and that is such a fucking turn on. No wonder the slut went boring for you.”

“Remy, cut this shit out. Now,” Marie said angrily, grabbing Kitty's hand and pulling her away from the set. “She doesn't want to do it, I don't want her to do it, and therefore she's not doing it.”

“Fine, take away all of my fun. At least now I have a specific look to go for when we hold yet another casting call next week.” Remy reached down to smooth out the sheet on the bed before following after them, pointing Marie in the direction of his office. “Let's go sit down and catch up while I look over some of the scenes we shot this morning. I have so much to tell you about. It feels like I haven't seen you in ages. I don't even know what you're doing in Los Angeles. I hope that you're staying here for a while because Belladonna is in such a better mood whenever you're around, for some reason. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she's still in love with you.”

Kitty stopped walking as Remy disappeared through a door, her eyes immediately finding Marie's. “What is he talking about?”

Marie sighed heavily. “It was a long, long time ago and it's been over for years.”

“But you and Bella...” Kitty trailed off. “You've never mentioned that.”

“I highly doubt that I've heard about everybody that you've ever fucked either,” Marie mumbled, squeezing Kitty's hand. “Remy's just trying to start trouble. There's nothing to worry about, I swear. Bella will tell you the same thing. We were absolute shit together and that's a place we both know better than to ever go again.”

Kitty sighed and started to walk in the direction Remy had gone. “I believe you. I just wish you would have told me these things instead of me finding them out from someone else.”

“I know and I'm sorry,” Marie said, catching up to her. “We'll sit down and have a huge talk about it all when we get back to New York, okay? Get everything out there on the table.”

Kitty stopped and turned to her, leaning forward to kiss Marie softly. “I'd like that.”

“Hey, bitches?” Remy stuck his head out of an office and waved at them. “Time is money around here! Let's go!”

**********

Emma's fingers tangled in Moira's hair as their lips met again, and Moira felt herself go so weak that she was sure she'd collapse at any moment. Her legs started to wobble and then a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist, the shock of doing this in front of Angel startling her yet again.

“You two are so gorgeous together, you know that?” Angel whispered, sliding her hands underneath Moira's shirt and slowly edging it up. “I've wanted to watch you two together for so long.”

Emma broke the kiss and pulled Moira closer, leaning over her shoulder to kiss Angel. “You should have said something sooner.”

“What, and have you go off about how you aren't in love with her again?” Angel shook her head and pulled Moira's shirt the rest of the way off, pressing open-mouthed kisses along her shoulders. “No, you had to be ready to admit it.”

Moira groaned as Emma's lips attached themselves to her neck, her head spinning from all the information it had tried to take in since she'd left the party. “What do you mean watch us together?”

Angel laughed. “Well, I want to join in too, but God, the thought of watching Ems fuck you?” She pulled Moira closer and moaned softly. “I've fantasized about seeing that like you wouldn't believe.”

Moira's eyes widened and she tried to push them away, shaking her head. “Wait, no.”

Emma pulled back and gave Moira a confused look. “No?”

“No,” Moira said firmly, pushing Angel's arms away from her. “I can't do this. I won't be some fucking toy for you two to act out your fantasies with.”

Angel sighed heavily as Moira gathered her shirt from the floor, shoving the arms that reached out to her away and stalking across the room. “Mors.”

“Oh, fuck off!” Moira exclaimed, pulling her shirt back on and throwing herself down on the sofa to put her shoes on. “I have had enough fucking people use my emotions against me in my life, Emma. I'm not letting you do it too.”

Angel started to move towards her but Emma pushed her back, shaking her head lightly when Angel gave her a confused look. “I'm not doing that, Moira.”

“The fuck you aren't!” Moira paused and took a deep breath before looking around for her other shoe. “I'm in love you with, you fucking bitch. But I showed up here and realized that I couldn't have you back, and I fucking dealt with it. I kept myself out of trouble and I did everything I could motherfucking think of to make sure I didn't disrupt things between you and Angel, and now you are going to repay me by giving that little speech in the car and kissing me and giving me a reason to hope just so I can be the missing piece in some stupid fantasy? Fuck you, Emma. Fuck you both.”

Emma watched as Moira stood up and practically ran to the door, slamming it behind her as she left. “Fuck.”

Angel sighed heavily, leaning back against the door frame. “Well, that went well.”

“It was the wrong time to try it,” Emma said, running her hands over her face. “We took advantage of her. I took advantage of her. Fuck. I promised her a long time ago that I wouldn't do that. She has every right to be that pissed off.”

“So what do we do now then?” Angel asked, walking over to Emma and wrapping her arms around her waist. 

“There's nothing we can do at the moment,” Emma said, giving Angel a kiss. “We have to wait until she calms down enough for me to talk to her. But that might be a few days.”

“I suppose we should actually talk about things with her instead of just acting on it.”

“Probably a good idea,” Emma said, glancing over at the clock. “Come on, let's get some sleep. I've got time for a few hours nap before I'll need to get up and head to work.”

“You sure?” Angel asked, peering at Emma with concern.

“I'm sure,” Emma said, letting go of her and walking towards the bedroom. “Come on.”

**********

Bobby slid into the booth and coughed gently, rolling his eyes when that didn't break Janos and Azazel apart. He sighed heavily and reached out, poking Azazel in the arm and quickly jumping back when the pair snapped apart. “Do you two ever do anything other than make out?”

“Sorry,” Janos mumbled, a slight blush on his cheeks as Azazel grinned at Bobby.

“Don't apologize for that,” Azazel said, slinging his arm around Janos's shoulders and slumping down in the booth. “We are talking to a man who usually can't keep his hands off his husband, you know.”

Bobby sighed and the smile slipped of Azazel's face. “Shit, sorry.”

“No, no,” Bobby said softly. “You're right. I usually can't keep my hands off Johnny.”

Janos knocked his elbow gently into Azazel's ribs, reach for his coffee as Azazel spluttered next to him. “So, I'm guessing you want your typical update?”

“I want to know whatever it is that is new,” Bobby said, glancing towards the counter when he heard Sean yelp, only to shake his head when he noticed Charles had thrown some water at him. “He was very out of it when he came home last night.”

“He was definitely on something, that's for sure,” Azazel said, rubbing at his side. “He kept popping pills backstage.”

Bobby sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “Shit.”

“I didn't really get close enough to figure out what they were,” Janos said, dropping his head onto Azazel's shoulder. “Sebastian was being a complete diva last night and was almost an hour late, so there was a lot of drama going on.”

“Plus the club manager was being a total bitch last night too. He tried to screw Johnny out of half of the gate,” Azazel added. “I haven't seen him that angry in a long time.”

Bobby groaned and shifted so his back was pressed against the wall, propping his legs up on the bench. “I don't know what to do. He refuses to admit that anything is going on. That shouldn't really surprise me but...I don't even know how this started! It's not like any of you are big druggies that could have tempted him.”

“I know, Bobby, but and if we had any idea how this began, we would totally tell you,” Janos pointed out. “As soon as we figured out what was going on, we came to you and let you know.”

Bobby sighed and reached for a napkin, tearing off a corner of it and rolling it into a ball. “I'm worried.”

“You have every reason to be, honey,” Azazel said, turning to brush a kiss along Janos's forehead. “We are worried too.”

“I just don't even know where to start,” Bobby mused. “I don't have the slightest idea.”

Janos reached across the table and squeezed Bobby's hand. “Maybe just talk to him about it? I mean, what's the worst that could happen?”

“I don't know,” Bobby said, sighing heavily. “I just don't have a good feeling about this.”

“It'll be alright,” Azazel said.

Bobby sighed again. “I hope so.”

**********

“How the fuck did Remy get into your apartment anyway?” Marie asked, knocking back her shot before glancing over at Belladonna. “What did you do, give him a key?”

Belladonna smiled nervously. “Maybe?”

“Why on earth would you want to do that?” Marie asked, waving down the bartender and asking for another. “I think I would rather die than have Remy capable of coming and going out of my place whenever he pleased.”

Belladonna knocked back her shot and slammed the glass to the bar. “Yeah, well, you're not the one who has been fucking him either.”

Marie's jaw dropped. “Tell me that you have not.”

“It started when I was working on that ridiculous reality show, right? And I had like zero time to go out and get laid, and Remy came around and started bitching at me about how I clearly needed to, and I snapped back that if he was so concerned then he should do something about it.” Belladonna grinned. “And then he did.”

Marie slapped at her. “How could you not tell me this? I was a complete bitch to him like all day!”

“And that's perfectly fine. He wouldn't want you any other way,” Belladonna said, glancing towards the dance floor. “Besides, he looks rather enamored with your girlfriend. I'm sure he barely noticed.”

Marie followed Belladonna's gaze and sighed when she saw how close to Kitty that Remy was dancing. “So, is this like a serious thing or what?”

“Girl, you know Remy. He doesn't do serious,” Belladonna said, flashing a smile at the bartender when he set another couple of shots in front of them. “And I'm okay with that. He's not going to be my version of Kitty, that's for sure. He's just fun to have around for now.”

“I just don't want you to get hurt,” Marie reasoned. “And we both know that the only thing Remy is good at is hurting people.”

Belladonna shook her head and knocked back her shot. “I won't, I promise. It's not like that. It's just sex to keep each other entertained.”

Marie sighed and took her shot, barely setting the glass on the bar before Belladonna was pulling her into the crowd. “Come on, let's get your girl back. You're starting to be no fun when she's not around.”

“Oh, shut up,” Marie called out, pushing her way through the crowd until she was standing in front of Kitty. “LeBeau, get your hands off my girlfriend.”

Remy pouted over Kitty's shoulder. “Taking away all my fun again, Marie?”

“He's really grabby, isn't he? I was starting to think his hand was glued to my ass.” Kitty shoved Remy's hands off her hips and took a step forward, falling into Marie's arms. Marie smirked at Remy for a moment before capturing Kitty's lips with her own, quickly deepening it and tempting Kitty's tongue into her mouth.

Belladonna rolled her eyes and reached for Remy, snagging him by the wrist and pulling on his arm. “Come on, let's go get a drink and leave the lovebirds alone. I don't want to be arrested when they start to fuck.”

“Oooh, we can't go far! I want to film that!”

Marie broke the kiss and glared in Remy's direction, bringing her gaze back to Kitty when she started to laugh. “Oh, you think that's funny do you?”

“Because it is,” Kitty said, smiling at her. “And you know it.”

Marie pulled Kitty into another kiss, groaning when she heard the call that Raven's set was about to start. “Time to put the plan into action, I guess.”

Kitty swallowed hard. “I still don't know what I'm going to say to her.”

“You'll figure it out, baby,” Marie said, pushing through the crowd and heading towards the DJ booth. “Just remember why it is you're doing this, alright?”

Kitty nodded as they approached the booth, glancing over at it to see Raven staring straight at her. She waved tentatively and watched as Raven broke out into a grin.

“Kitty!” Raven waved towards the door. “Get in here, girl!”

Kitty nodded and kissed Marie quickly, then pushed her way through the crowd to the door, slipping into the booth. She shut the door behind her and turned around, only to find herself enveloped in a big hug. “Raven. It's good to see you.”

“Kitty,” Raven said, pulling back and heading back to the boards. “Girl, what are you doing in Los Angeles? I thought you said you'd never leave New York.”

Kitty forced herself to take a deep breath. “It's just a visit,” she said softly, edging closer to where Raven had taken a seat at the boards. “I, um, I came out here for a reason. To, uh, to find you, actually.”

“You're looking for me?” Raven asked, sliding her headphones on and situating them so they only covered one ear. “What for?”

Kitty dropped down to her knees next to Raven's chair, reaching out to grasp her arm gently. “I know you know where Erik is.”

Raven paused in mid-reach, shaking her head as she glanced down at Kitty. “No, I don't.”

“I heard you in the background when he called me,” Kitty said, trying to ignore how pathetic the pleading tone of her voice made her sound. “Raven, please. I just want to help him.”

Raven stayed silent for a minute as she got the first song playing. “Look, I can't talk about this right now. I'll come find you at the bar after my set, alright? We'll talk then.”

Kitty nodded and stood up, brushing a kiss across Raven's temple. “Then I'll see you at the bar in a couple of hours.”


	5. Chapter 5

Kitty jumped when she felt someone put their hand on her shoulder, glancing behind her to find Raven staring back at her. “Oh fuck, I wasn't expecting you for another hour.”

Raven laughed and slid an arm around Kitty's back, squeezing into the crowd at the bar. “Nah, only a two hour set tonight.”

“Raven,” Kitty started, but Raven just shook her head.

“This isn't exactly the greatest of places to have this conversation, so I was thinking we could go somewhere else, grab some coffee or something.”

Kitty started to respond but found herself with an armful of Remy instead, her eyes widening as he tried to kiss her. “Get off me!”

Remy was quickly pulled backwards and a giggling Marie shoved into her arms instead, Belladonna shaking her head behind them. “I think we drank too much.”

“There is no such thing as drinking too much!” Remy exclaimed, glancing at Raven and grinning drunkenly. “Well, hello there, gorgeous. And who are you?”

Raven laughed and glanced over at Kitty, a smile spreading across her face as she watched the woman in Kitty's arms start necking her. “Friends of yours?”

“This one,” Kitty said, tapping Marie on the back, “is the girlfriend. Those two are her friends.”

Marie groaned as Kitty gently pushed her back, stumbling until Belladonna wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her upright. “We're going back to the apartment,” Belladonna said, reaching out to snag Remy as he started to wander away. “Are you coming with us?”

“No,” Kitty said quickly, pointing towards Raven. “I've got something I've got to do first.”

Belladonna nodded as Marie pushed her way out of her embrace and plastered herself along Kitty's body again, bringing their lips together in a hard kiss. “Don't fuck her.”

“I wasn't planning on that,” Kitty said, biting back a laugh. “I don't think I've ever seen you this drunk before.”

Marie waved an arm in Belladonna's direction, accidentally smacking her upside the head. “Her fault.”

“Okay, that's it,” Belladonna said, grabbing the arm and pulling Marie away. “We're going home before we reach a point where we're going to break things because there is too much to break at my place.”

Kitty watched as they stumbled away, Remy turning around every few seconds to glance at Raven. “Sorry about that.”

“Don't worry about it,” Raven laughed. “It's not the first time I've seen drunk homos and I'm sure it won't be the last. So, coffee?”

“Coffee sounds good,” Kitty said, following Raven through the crowd and outside.

“There's an all night café just a few blocks from here,” Raven said, steering Kitty to the left. “Best coffee in Los Angeles, if you ask me.”

They walked along silently and soon were entering the small café, Raven leading her to a table in the back before telling Kitting that the coffee was on her and heading to the counter to order it. Kitty sat down and waited while Raven flirted with the guy behind the counter, the nerves and uncertainty surrounding the situation settling themselves in the pit of her stomach. She took a deep breath as Raven came back, taking the cup from her hands and smiling in thanks.

Raven sat down and took a sip from her own cup, setting it down on the table before studying Kitty for a moment. “You look good.”

“Thanks,” Kitty said, blushing slightly. “But I'm not here to talk about me.”

Raven sighed and leaned back in her chair, running her hands over her face. “Look, I've tried to get him to go back to New York. He doesn't want to.”

“Raven, I've seen the way you try to convince Erik to do things, and to be honest, it's kind of the way that one should do it if they want to make sure that Erik does the exact opposite of what they're saying,” Kitty said, setting her cup down and playing with the cardboard wrapper. “And I doubt he would be calling me wanting to know how things are if he didn't want to come back.”

“He's just a fucking mess at the moment,” Raven said quietly. “I don't know if he's going to listen to anyone.”

Kitty sighed. “I have to try. Look, I know about his status, okay? And I know that he's not taking care of himself and I want him to come back to New York for that at the very least. He needs to be seeing a doctor regularly and taking medications and trying to prolong his life instead of ignoring it.”

“I've tried to get him to see a doctor but he was not interested,” Raven said, reaching for her cup again. “I don't think he cares that he's not taking care of himself.”

“Which is a sign that he needs help from his friends, not something to just ignore,” Kitty admonished softly. “You know how important it is for him to be taking care of himself.”

Raven stared at her for a moment. “And you think he'll listen to you?”

“I don't have a clue if he'll listen to me or not,” Kitty admitted. “But I have to try. I didn't fly across the fucking country just to talk to you. I came here to get him to come home and I'm not going home until he does.”

“You might be here for a while then,” Raven said, taking a sip and putting her cup back down. “He's fucked up but as stubborn as he always was.”

Kitty shook her head. “I don't care. He needs to know that we still care about him. I have known Erik for a long time, you know, not as long as you but I think I have a pretty good idea of what he's thinking. And since none of us have tried to find him, I'm sure he's thinking that we don't care. That couldn't be further from the truth.”

“Then why are you the only one who is here?” Raven asked, anger spiking quickly before fading away just as fast. “Fucking hell, anyone with a fucking brain could have figured out that he came here! Why has it taken one of you so long to figure this out?”

“Look,” Kitty said defensively, “some of us didn't even know he was gone for almost a week, okay? He just got discharged from the hospital and disappeared. Charles was falling apart as it was but once he found out Erik was gone, things just got worse, and since he's the one that's there, he's sort of been our primary concern. And then there's the whole business of running the fucking place in Erik's absence, something which no one was really prepared to do because Erik did things that no one even knew about. We've been trying to survive. And you could have just as easily picked up the phone and called to tell us that he was here and okay! Do you know that Jean stared scanning the police reports every day to see if Erik showed up on them? Do you know that Hank refuses to let either the club or the restaurant be closed just in case Erik comes stumbling back sometime in the early morning? Don't even try to motherfucking lecture me about how we've handled this. Your part in it is just as bad.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “What was I supposed to do, huh? Betray his trust? He wanted to fucking kill himself when he first showed up out here, and fuck if I was going to let that happen! I've been trying to get him to survive, you stupid bitch. So don't you lecture me either.”

Kitty sighed and ran her hands through her hair. “This is pointless. Let's just deal with the situation as it is now. Take me to wherever Erik is.”

“He's at my apartment,” Raven said, glancing at the clock on the wall. “Or at least he should be.”

Kitty took another sip of her coffee. “Then let's go.”

“You're not going to just go waltzing in there and disrupting my entire building, okay? I rather like my neighbors and they prefer it to be pretty quiet.” Raven reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. “I'll get him to meet me somewhere and then we'll go there.”

“I do not want to have this conversation in a public place,” Kitty exclaimed. “Are you crazy?”

“If it's in a public place, he won't run,” Raven pointed out, scrolling through her contacts. “And I am not sure that he will just sit around and let you say whatever to him. His instincts right now are to run away from situations he doesn't like. It's why he left New York in the first place.”

Kitty conceded the point and brought her cup back to her lips, sipping at it as Raven found the right number and placed the call. “Erik, honey, how about you meet me for a late dinner, hm? I just finished up my set and I'm starving, but I don't want to come home and cook.”

Kitty watched as Raven rolled her eyes, shaking her head as if Erik could see it. “No, it's late enough that I don't want you to cook either. Come on, just meet me over at Edie's and we'll have some food and then maybe we can go over to Fosters Freeze and snag some ice cream to take home.”

Raven sighed heavily after a moment. “Erik, my night has been utter shit so far and I'm trying to get you to help make it better. Come on.”

Kitty set her cup down as Raven stood up, cradling the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she threw a couple of dollars down onto the table. “Alright, I've got to get over there, so we'll meet in half an hour? If you get there before me, grab us a booth, will you? I don't want to sit in one of those tiny ass little tables they've got.”

Raven motioned for Kitty to follow her and headed for the door, waving quickly at the guy behind the counter as she walked out the door. “No, don't order for me. I'm not entirely sure what it is I want yet. You got ahead and order if you want to. I'll get mine once I'm there and see what the specials are tonight.”

Kitty fell into step next to Raven as they headed north, glancing around as she continued to talk to Erik. “Honey, you sound like you're drunk.”

Raven turned towards Kitty when she noticed her wide eyes, shaking her head to reassure her. “Well, if you're that tired, then we'll skip out on ice cream and just go home after dinner. But you need to ear. I bet you haven't eaten anything since breakfast.”

Raven pointed towards a bus stop and Kitty nodded, approaching the bench and sitting down as Raven bent to look at the schedule. “Alright, I'll see you in a little bit then.”

Kitty glanced over at her as Raven hung up the phone. “He didn't sound too thrilled about meeting you.”

“He never is,” Raven said, sitting down next to Kitty. “We got here in time to catch the right bus, which is good. You've got about twenty minutes to figure out what you want to say to him.”

**********

Emma opened the door quietly, not wanting to disturb Moira if she was still asleep. She stepped inside and carefully shut the door behind her, swallowing nervously when she heard the sounds of someone moving around in the kitchen. She took a deep breath and started to walk forward when a woman she didn't know walked out of the kitchen and into the small hallway. Gasping, she stepped backwards quickly, jamming her shoulder into the wall and cursing loudly. The woman just nodded at her before walking out the door, and that's when Moira peeked around the corner. “Who the fuck was that?”

“No one you need to concern yourself with,” Moira said, ducking back into the kitchen.

Emma sighed and pushed away from the wall, walking into the kitchen and pinning Moira up against the refrigerator. “Tell me who the fuck that was.”

“It was nobody,” Moira said, pushing at Emma's shoulders and growling when she couldn't get her to move. “Fuck off, Emma. I don't have to tell you anything.”

Emma stared at her for several moments before her shoulders slumped and her arms relaxed. “You had something last night, didn't you?”

The silence that filled the air was all the confirmation Emma needed, but Moira sighed and gave it to her anyway. “I went back to the party. I met Lizzie there.”

Emma stepped back until her back was flush against the wall, sliding down to the floor. “This is my fault.”

“No,” Moira said, shaking her head and sitting down, leaning against the refrigerator. “It's my fault. My weakness.”

“You wouldn't have gone back to the party if I hadn't.” Emma stopped abruptly, bringing her hands up to rub her face. “What did you take?”

Moira sighed heavily and kicked at Emma's feet, smiling slightly when she felt her kick back. “Some ecstasy and a little cocaine. And none of it helped me feel better.”

“Ecstasy and...” Emma trailed off and took a deep breath, trying hard to fight off the tears that were threatening to fall. “I'm sorry, Morrie.”

“You haven't called me Morrie in years,” Moira said softly, pushing away from the refrigerator and crawling over to Emma. 

Emma reached out and wrapped Moira up in her arms, burying her face in Moira's neck and letting the tears fall. Moira trailed her hands along Emma's spine comfortingly, whispering soothing words until Emma's tears stopped. “This isn't your fault, Emmie. I promise.”

Emma pulled back slightly and sniffled, shaking her head. “I fucked everything up earlier, especially with you. I didn't say half of what I meant to say and I didn't do half of what I needed to do, and I drove you away and back into this. And fuck, this is the shirt I've always tried to pull you away from.”

“You didn't fuck everything up,” Moira said softly. “I wouldn't still be here if you had. I'd have gone with Lizzie and fucked myself up even more than I did last night. But I need your help, Emmie. I know how easy it is for me to slip. I can't have you giving me reasons to.”

“I really am sorry, Morrie.” Emma leaned her head on Moira's shoulder. “I'll do whatever I have to do to help. I promise.”

Moira kissed the top of Emma's head lightly. “You could start by explaining to me what the fuck was going on earlier. If all you two were talking about is one night then I'm not fucking interested. I need you more than that.”

“It's more than that,” Emma whispered gently. “I promise.”

**********

Erik fidgeted with the corner of the menu, glancing up every few seconds at Kitty. He shifted nervously towards Raven, nudging at her gently until Raven sighed and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close. “Raven,” he whispered, leaning in a bit more to try and keep Kitty from hearing him. “What's she doing here?”

“What do you think?” Raven replied, squeezing Erik's shoulders and looking up at Kitty. “Ask her yourself.”

Erik sighed and put his head on Raven's shoulder, blinking as he adjusted his gaze to stare at Kitty. “I knew I shouldn't have called you.”

“I am so glad that you did though, honey,” Kitty said, closing her menu and setting it on the table. “Believe me, I am so happy to know that you are alright.”

“Not alright,” Erik mumbled. “Just alive.”

Kitty felt her chest clench tightly. “Alive is better than dead.”

“If you say so.” Erik set his menu down on the table and glanced up at Raven, poking her in the side. “I don't like that you tricked me.”

“I didn't trick you,” Raven pointed out. “All I asked you to do was meet me here. I just failed to mention that Kitty would be coming with me.”

“Still not nice,” Erik said quietly, smiling at the waiter as he approached their table. “I'm not hungry.”

Raven rolled her eyes and gathered up Erik's menu. “Bring him a cheeseburger and fries, please.”

Erik frowned as Raven handed the menus to the waiter. “What about you?”

“I ate before my set,” Raven said, thanking the waiter as he walked away. “But you haven't eaten anything in hours, and so therefore you need to eat.”

Erik pushed Raven's arm off of him and slid closer to the wall, sighing heavily. “I feel like I'm being ganged up on.”

Kitty reached out and tangled her fingers with Erik's. “Look, she has nothing to do with this, alright? Raven didn't even know I was in Los Angeles until a few hours ago. This is all my doing, so if you are going to be mad at someone, be mad at me.”

“I'm not mad,” Erik protested, pulling his hand away from Kitty's. “I just feel like my ability to make decisions for myself is about to be taken away from me.”

Raven shook her head. “You can make all the decisions that you want, but when you make as shit of ones as you've been making in the last few months, you have to be prepared for the people that love you to try and do something to help you make better ones.”

“And we do love you, Erik,” Kitty added, smiling at him. “Honey, I don't think you even realize how much.”

Erik reached for a sugar packet and started to flip it around wish his fingers, trying to work off some of his anxiety. “I don't understand how anyone can love me after what it is I've done.”

“You were scared and so you ran,” Kitty said, reaching out to grab Erik's hand again. “And if anyone back home tries to say that they would have handled it differently then you can call them lying bitches. If they're upset, it's more from what has happened since you left than with the fact that you left.”

“They should be,” Erik mumbled, tossing the sugar packet onto the table and sighing. “I failed you. I failed him. The way Charles is right now, that's all my fault.”

Kitty squeezed his hand. “No, honey, don't think about it like that.”

“Why not?” Erik asked. “I can only imagine what it is that he's like at the moment. Drinking heavily, taking more drugs than usual. And it's my fault. I don't see how anybody could possibly say that it isn't.”

“It's not your fault,” Kitty stressed. “You can't blame yourself for what's happened with Charles. But you can help him to stop doing it.”

Erik glanced up at Kitty as the waiter came back with his food, ignoring the plate that was set in front of him. “How?”

Kitty took a deep breath. “Come home.”

“I can't,” Erik murmured, dropping his gaze down to the plate. “I can't do that.”

Kitty reached out and snagged a fry from the plate. “Why not? It's your home, baby.”

Erik sighed and pushed the plate in Kitty's direction, groaning when Raven grabbed it and pushed it back in front of him. “I'm not hungry.”

“I don't care. We're not leaving until you at least eat some of that,” Raven said. “You aren't very interested in taking care of yourself but I'll be damned if I'm going to just let you waste away when I can do something about it. Eat.”

Erik sighed again but reached for the cheeseburger, picking up his knife and cutting it in half. “I just can't, Kitty. It's not like anybody really needs me around anyway.”

“That's not an answer, sweetie,” Kitty said, plucking another fry from the plate. “And you're the patriarch of the family, Erik. We all need you whether we openly admit it or not. You have helped every single one of us out in some way or another and we all love you for it.”

Erik set his knife down and picked up half of the cheeseburger. “I don't want to talk about this anymore. Talk to me about something else instead.”

“Erik,” Kitty began, but Erik just shook his head.

“I'll think about it. Now tell me about how things are going with Marie. This is the longest I can remember you ever being with the same person.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Erik looks terrible,” Kitty said, pulling off her shirt and crawling onto the bed, settling down next to where Marie laid. “He's lost a ton of weight; he's almost as pale as I am. I thought I was worried before, but now I'm just terrified.”

Marie groaned and blinked as Kitty put her head on her shoulder. “Where are we?”

“Bella's apartment,” Kitty said, sighing. “You got drunk last night.”

“Shit,” Marie groaned again, starting to look towards Kitty before her head let her know that was a very bad idea. “I'm sorry.”

Kitty pushed herself up on an elbow and stared down at her. “What are you sorry for? You had fun last night. You don't have to apologize for that.”

“I wasn't there with you,” Marie mumbled, throwing an arm over her eyes to block out the light. “For support.”

Kitty bent down and gave Marie's mouth a quick peck. “It's alright. Raven was more help than I thought she'd be. She's every bit as useless as I thought she'd be too, but she at least seemed genuinely concerned about Erik.”

Marie sucked in a few deep breaths. “So what did he say?”

“He said he'd think about it, which is an obvious no,” Kitty said, settling back down. “I've got to come up with something to make him realize how badly we need him back in New York. He thinks everyone is getting along just fine without him so there's no need for him to go back.”

“Did you try telling him about Charles?”

Kitty sighed again. “Charles is a sensitive subject. I'm not really sure how to bring the details up.”

“Well, from what you've told me, I think that Charles is probably the only thing that will get him to change his mind.” Marie moved her arm and blinked rapidly, trying to get her eyes used to the light. “Shit, I don't think I've been this hungover in a while.”

“You're probably right about the Charles thing,” Kitty murmured, burying her face in Marie's neck. “And as for the hangover, that's what you get when you drink that much. You were groping me in front of Raven, for fuck's sake.”

“I...” Marie started before giving up and putting her arm back over her eyes. “I don't even remember that. I don't remember leaving and coming back here either.”

Kitty laughed. “Well, do you remember listening to Bella and Remy fuck? They are lying naked in the middle of the floor out there, all wrapped up in each other. It would be kind of cute if it wasn't so disturbing to see at six o'clock in the morning.”

Marie snorted. “Now that you mention it, I do vaguely recall hearing someone scream Remy's name over and over. That was probably Bella.”

“Well, the only other option would have been you, right? And it better not have been,” Kitty said, smiling when Marie suddenly rolled onto her side and threw an arm across her waist.

“I wasn't that drunk,” Marie mumbled, brushing her lips across Kitty's forehead as she waited for the dizziness to subside. “I've only ever been that drunk once, and I vowed to never get that drunk ever again.”

Kitty felt the smile slip off her face. “You've fucked Remy?”

“Shit,” Marie groaned, running her hands along Kitty's back. “Once. That's never going to happen again either.”

Kitty tried to smile again. “So when he called you a slut yesterday, he wasn't really joking, was he? What have you done, slept your way through your friends?”

“Something like that. And I meant to yell at him for that,” Marie whispered. “I once was a slut, but I'm a reformed slut now.”

“Oh yeah,” Kitty whispered back. “And just what has reformed you, hm?”

Marie smiled softly. “This girl named Katherine. Best thing that's ever happened to me, she is.”

Kitty smiled back. “Something tells me that this Katherine feels the same way about you.”

“Then I say we put the issue to rest and go back to sleep,” Marie mumbled, pulling Kitty closer. “I have a headache to get rid of, and sleep is probably the best cure.”

**********

Darwin groaned and reached towards Alex, his eyes flying open when he encountered nothing but cold, empty bedsheets. “Alex?”

“Over here,” came the quiet reply, and Darwin glanced over to the window, sighing in relief when he saw Alex sitting on the floor, flicking the ashes of his cigarette out the opened crack.

“Thank God. I thought you'd left,” Darwin said softly, settling back against the mattress.

“I told you I wouldn't,” Alex replied, taking another drag off his cigarette. “Though I suppose I shouldn't blame you if you don't believe me. I'm not sure I would believe me right now either.”

Darwin scrambled off the bed and dropped down to the floor, settling next to Alex and linking their hands together. “You really worried me earlier.”

Alex blew a cloud of smoke in the direction of the window and sighed. “I didn't really mean it when I said I wanted to die. I was just so fucking angry and you were there, and fuck. I shouldn't have said that shit to you.”

Darwin shifted closer and rested his head on Alex's shoulder. “Why were you so angry?”

“Because of all the times to have a motherfucking epiphany about the utter shit that I have turned my life into, it had to be tonight.”

“And that made you angry?”

“I'm angry because I'm seeing how well you're doing, and you're constantly talking to me about Charles, and it's just like...why am I not letting myself get better? Why am I still doing this to myself?”

“You can turn your life around, you know,” Darwin said softly, turning his head to press a kiss to Alex's bare shoulder. “You could let us help you.”

Alex laughed bitterly. “I'm surprised you don't just hit me every time you see me, you know that? Fuck knows I deserve it. God, you must be a saint to put up with me and all this bullshit.”

“He did the same shit to me, you know,” Darwin murmured, squeezing Alex's fingers. “But I know that somewhere underneath all of that is the person that I used to be. And I can't be that person anymore, too much has happened, but I can get close. That's what I'm trying to do and I just get frustrated that you don't even seem to want to do that.”

Alex took another drag off his cigarette, blowing the smoke towards the window. “After you left for work, I started thinking about why it is you've even stuck around to begin with. And for the first time, I think I actually realize how much you love me. So, it's like, why am I fucking this up? Everything that I think I can get from the drugs and the tricks and all of that shit, I can't get it there. I can get it from you. So, what the fuck have I been doing for the last couple of months?”

“I don't know,” Darwin whispered. “But I know that you can move past this. I know it.”

Alex sighed heavily. “It's not going to happen overnight, that's for fucking sure. I'm dying for a hit right now. It's why I've smoked like every fucking cigarette that you had.”

“I can get more, so that's not a problem.” Darwin shifted until he could look up at Alex's face. “I think you probably need to go to rehab.”

“I think that's an understatement,” Alex said, tossing what was left of the cigarette out the window. “I wouldn't have a fucking clue where to go or how I would pay for it or if I would even fucking stay there.”

“Maybe you can try though?” Darwin asked softly. “One of the guys at work was in rehab not that long ago so he knows a place. And, as for you paying for it, they've told me that the company will pay for it if you want to go.”

Alex looked down at him. “I thought you worked at a restaurant.”

“I do, but it's a really special place,” Darwin said. “Erik, the guy who owns it, he's not around right now, but everyone is trying to do things the way that he would want them done, and part of what Erik does is take in strays and do whatever needs to be done to help them. It's how Charles got out. Hank has assured me on multiple occasions that if I could ever get you to go to rehab, they'd pay for it.”

Alex let out a small laugh. “This place sounds magical.”

“Wait until you see it,” Darwin said, smiling softly. “You'll love it.”

“Yeah,” Alex said absently. “So, um, rehab.”

“Maybe we should start with getting you to leave the apartment first,” Darwin said. “How about you come to work with me tomorrow? You can sit in the restaurant and I'll bring you some food and we can talk about what to do next on my breaks. I know Charles would love to see you. He can keep you company while I'm working.”

Alex shifted and wrapped his arms around Darwin's waist, taking in a shaky breath. “Can I decide in the morning? I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet.”

“That's alright,” Darwin said, pressing a kiss to the top of Alex's head. “That's all I can ask you to do. It's a start.”

“Yeah,” Alex breathed out. “It's a start.”

**********

Raven ducked as a shoe came flying towards her. “What the fuck was I supposed to do? She heard me in the background when you called her! She would have known I was lying!”

“So you lie to her anyway!” Erik screamed back, throwing the other shoe in Raven's direction. “Don't you have a fucking brain?!”

Raven sighed and walked into the bedroom, grabbing Erik by the wrists and pinning him down on the bed. “Listen to me.”

“Let go of me!” Erik roared, squirming around underneath her. “Raven, fucking let go of me.”

“Not until you listen to me,” Raven said sternly, pushing Erik's wrists harder against the mattress. “You are acting like a child, you know that?”

“Fuck you,” Erik spat out bitterly.

Raven rolled her eyes. “You're acting like a fifteen-year-old girl from the ghettos of Brooklyn, the kind that we used to run in to from time to time when we'd go walking down to that one bookstore. You have a motherfucking life, Erik, and it's time you fucking went back to it.”

“I don't have a motherfucking life anymore!” Erik pulled hard at Raven's grip and whined when he couldn't get his hands loose. “If I'd been able to keep my dick in my pants then I wouldn't be in this fucking situation!”

Raven growled angrily. “You want to fucking blame yourself for this then that's fine. But don't you ever fucking talk to me again like there is no life left. There is, and if you got your fucking ass back to New York, you would realize that you still have one to live!”

“What life would that be? The one where I worry about infecting people every single time I touch them! The one where I worry about touching things in the restaurant, or in the club, because of what might happen! The one where everyone looks at me differently when they find out that I'm positive!” Erik groaned and turned his head away from Raven, refusing to look at her any longer. “That's not a life, Raven. That's living in a fucking prison.”

“I know that you are smarter than this,” Raven said tiredly. “I know that you know better than to think you'll infect someone just by touching something that they then touch themselves. You've been around positive people before, Erik. You've hugged them and kissed them and touched them and so has everyone else at the club, and it's never been transmitted to any of you. To any of us.”

Erik shuddered beneath her. “How do I know that's not how I got it?”

“Because you know how you got it, or do you not remember telling me the story?” Raven said, ducking her head down when Erik's head snapped back to look at her. “You said it wasn't that difficult to figure out once you found out you were positive.”

Erik stared at her for a moment. “I don't remember this at all. How?”

Raven sighed and let go of Erik's wrists, laying down on the bed next to him. “There was this one queen, and you'd take her into one of the offices and let her fuck you over a desk. You said it was always bareback, that you never bothered with protection. Then all of the sudden she stopped showing up, so you asked some of the people she usually hung around about it, and they told you she'd died. It doesn't really take a genius to figure out what she died from.”

Erik pulled his arms down and wrapped them around his waist, rolling over so his back was to Raven. “I'm so stupid.”

“No, you're not,” Raven said softly. “But you need to look at what you've got and decide that it's worth it to keep living. You've stopped doing that.”

Erik hugged himself closer and blinked when he felt the tears start to well up in his eyes. “I can't believe that I was so stupid,” he whispered. “Fuck, Raven, I knew better than this. I just...I knew better.”

“Maybe,” Raven murmured. “But you were young, and you thought you were invincible, just like we all did. You were stupid and you're going to pay for it. There's nothing else to say about it.”

“I hate myself now,” Erik choked out, the tears starting to fall. “I hate how stupid and naïve I allowed myself to be.”

Raven shifted until she was lying behind Erik, pulling him close and brushing a kiss along the back of his neck. “Don't hate yourself, babe.”

“I can't,” Erik whispered, trying to blink the tears back. “I have to hate myself. It's the only way.”

“No, it's not.” Raven took a deep breath and rubbed her hand along Erik's arm. “You're not happy here, Erik. You haven't been for a long time. And everyone that makes you happy are waiting in New York. Waiting for you to come home. They're not going to hate you either. Let them know that you are positive and everyone will understand.”

Erik sniffled and leaned back into the embrace. “I don't deserve that.”

“You deserve everything,” Raven said. “In New York there is a bunch of people who so clearly loves you as much as you love them. You do deserve that, Erik. You always have.”

Erik flopped around until he was facing Raven, reaching up to wipe the tears from his eyes. “You deserve somebody too.”

“Well, maybe without you hanging around all the time, I'll be able to find someone,” Raven teased, groaning when Erik slapped at her. “It's a joke!”

Erik huffed. “It's not funny.”

Raven darted forward and pressed their lips together gently, smiling at Erik as she pulled back. “You want me to call Kitty?”

Erik stared at her for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”

**********

Moira walked into the office and found Angel with her head down on her desk, frustration evident in the way her hands were clenched around the desk's edge. She took a deep breath and sat down, Angel lifting up her head to look at her a few moments later. They sat there in an uneasy silence as Moira thought about what to say. “You always knew that I was in love with her,” she said without thought, cringing once she realized she'd given the words voice. “Fuck, that didn't sound right.”

“No, it sounded fine,” Angel replied, turning towards her computer and quickly checking the status of a few stocks. “And you're right. I did always know that you were in love with Ems. That doesn't make knowing the fact that she's still in love with you any easier.”

“It was easy enough the night you wanted to fuck me,” Moira said, groaning and rubbing her hands over her face. “Fuck, that didn't sound right either.”

Angel sighed heavily and sent a quick email. “That was because I wanted to fuck you.”

“And now you don't?”

“Of course I do,” Angel said, spinning her chair around and staring at the bookcase behind her desk. “It's just that now I'm actually thinking about things instead of just doing them.”

Moira laughed. “Your conscience is a bitch, isn't it? Mine's been in overdrive ever since I slipped up that night.”

Angel spun her chair back around, her eyes landing on Moira. “Slipped up?”

“Fuck, I wasn't going to tell you about that,” Moira sighed, slumping down in her chair. “I went back to the party. Had a little. I've felt like shit about it ever since.”

“Does Emma know that?” Angel asked after a moment.

“She came home from work before the girl I picked up there left,” Moira said, looking up at the ceiling. “Wasn't going to tell her either but she figured it out immediately. She knows what I look like when I'm on something. I never could get it past her.”

“It's not my conscience,” Angel said suddenly, drawing Moira's gaze back to her. “It's jealousy.”

“Jealousy? About what? Me?” Moira shook her head, laughing. “There's nothing to be jealous about, Angel.”

Angel nodded. “There is though. There are parts of her that I don't even know and that's because they belong to you. Nothing I ever do will get me the chance to know those parts. Not even having you join us would do that. There is too much history between the two of you.”

“That doesn't mean that you can't know her,” Moira said, bringing her head down until she could look at Angel. “There are parts of her that you have that I don't.”

“You know her better than I do,” Angel said quietly.

“Only because I've known her longer than you have,” Moira countered back. “Look, she's in love with you, alright? And I know that for a fact because I know what she's like when she's in love, and she's like that with you. You give Emmie things that she's always craved and that I never could.”

“Like what?”

“Stability, for one, and independence,” Moira said, taking a deep breath. “I put her through hell, Angel. She sacrificed so much of herself for me and she's only just starting to get those parts of her back. But she doesn't have to sacrifice herself for you. She doesn't have to give up things for you. You just accept it all and love her anyway. Emmie needs that. Always has. And I could never give that to her.”

Angel stared at Moira for a moment before gathering her phone and looking through the rest of the day's schedule. “You really were just going to let me have her, weren't you?”

“Yes,” Moira said, playing with the edge of her sleeve. “All I wanted was for Emmie to be happy and you made her that way again. I figured everything else was appropriate punishment for the shit way I treated her for so long.”

“You make Ems happy too, you know,” Angel said, standing up and looking around. “I'm officially taking the rest of the day off. The markets are about to close and I don't think anything earthshattering is going to happen before tomorrow morning.”

Moira smiled and stood up. “Any particular reason why?”

“I think we need to go show Emma how much we appreciate her before you have to go to work.” Angel grabbed her messenger bag and opened it, sliding her laptop inside. “If you're up for it, that is.”

Moira grinned. “Of course I am.”


	7. Chapter 7

Kitty wrapped a comforting arm around Erik's waist and led him into the apartment, unable to keep the grin off her face. “I am so happy that you're coming home, Erik. Seriously. I cannot even begin to put it into words.”

Erik smiled nervously and shifted closer to Kitty. “I, um, there's a few things about it that I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Of course, of course,” Kitty said, leading Erik past the sitting area and towards the bedroom she'd been sharing with Marie. “Let's talk in here. I have a feeling they're going to get back in the middle of this conversation, and I don't want you to stop just because they're here.”

Erik glanced around the small room and sat down on the edge of the bed, watching as Kitty set his suitcase down next to her own. “I, uh, I think it might take me a few days before I'm comfortable with going to the club.”

“Then it takes you a few days,” Kitty said, sitting down next to him and wrapping an arm around Erik's shoulders. “Seriously, honey, I think the fact that you're going back to New York is a huge step in the right direction. If we have to take baby steps after we get back there, then that's what we'll do.”

Erik nodded. “I can find a hotel to stay at or something.”

“Nonsense!” Kitty exclaimed, leaning over and pressing a kiss to Erik's temple. “You're staying with us. I've already talked to Marie about it.”

Erik laughed a little. “Want me where you can keep an eye on me, hm?”

“Something like that,” Kitty mumbled, shrugging her shoulders. “I'm just super worried about you, honey. I have been for months. I'll feel better knowing that you are somewhere where you can be taken care of instead of sitting in a big hotel room all by yourself.”

“I suppose I probably need that too,” Erik said quietly. “I haven't done all that great at taking care of myself lately.”

Kitty nodded. “And it shows, baby. But we will get you back to being your utterly gorgeous and completely awesome self in no time.”

Erik slumped against Kitty's side and put his head on her shoulder. “I should probably also see a doctor.”

“We are totally going to the clinic like as soon as we are back in town,” Kitty said firmly. “I will go with you, and I will hold your hand if you want me to, and we will listen to what the doctor has to say and get you the right pills to take and everything. That is absolutely not up for discussion either.”

“I'm not going to argue,” Erik whispered. “I'm just scared.”

“Honey, the scary part is over, isn't it?” Kitty squeezed Erik's shoulder again. “You already have the diagnosis. Now it is just a matter of taking care of yourself properly so that fifty years from now, you will be sitting in a corner booth and laughing with us about the new queens that show up for Pride. Speaking of which, you missed some absolute howlers this year, honey. Thankfully, Bobby had the brilliant idea to take pictures. I cannot wait until you see them.”

Erik gave her a small smile. “I missed a lot, didn't I?”

“Yes,” Kitty said bluntly. “But, there is so much to look forward to. You are going to be back in time for the holiday season, which is going to be as epic as usual, I'm sure. And baby, Thanksgiving dinner would totally not have been the same without you around. You are the reason we all show up for that thing anyway, you know. We feel like we owe it to you.”

Erik sighed heavily. “I'm not so sure that there will be that many of you who still feel the same way. I am fully expecting a lot of hate when I walk back in there.”

“Then they are total idiots,” Kitty said quickly. “Look, once they find out what it is that caused all of this, there is no way that any of them are going to keep being total bitches about it. And if they are, well, you do have the power to fire them.”

“I, um,” Erik paused and swallowed hard. “I don't know if I am going to tell anyone why I left. I am afraid that will only make it worse.”

Kitty shook her head and dropped another kiss on Erik's head. “I can only give you my opinion on this, alright? You do whatever you think is best. But I totally think that things would be better if you just got everything out there in the open once you go back. Yeah, it will probably be ridiculously hard to do, but I think you will find that things will go a lot easier and smoother if there isn't this cloud of mystery hanging over everything. Plus, I think that if they know where you were coming from on this, it will help them understand better, and a better understanding of the situation will make it easier for them to forgive you.”

Erik sighed and sat up, rolling his shoulders to work out a kink in his muscles. “You are probably right. You have been right about everything else so far, so why wouldn't you be right now?”

“Erik, I wish I didn't have to be right about this shit, okay?” Kitty moved her hand back to rub at Erik's neck. “I wish everything was still the way that it was nine months ago, when everyone was happy. But I can't just ignore that all of this has happened, and therefore, I have no choice but to just go with the flow. And I am going to stick up for you every step of the way, because I don't think you deserve a lot of the shit I know that people are going to try to throw at you. Some of them are really fucking angry.”

Erik snorted. “Sebastian, I imagine.”

“I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to hit you,” Kitty said, a smile on his face. “So maybe be prepared to duck when you first see him again?”

“He's never going to forgive me for doing this to Charles,” Erik said, letting himself fall backwards onto the mattress. 

“Well, Charles is the one thing he is fiercely protective of, so yeah, it'll take him a while,” Kitty said, laying back to join Erik. “You up for some stories?”

“Sure,” Erik said, a soft smile crossing his face. “Probably good for me to know what's been going on before I walk back in there.”

“That's the spirit!” Kitty called out. “Alright, well, I'll start with Jubilee and Theresa. Theresa's mother called her. Can you believe that? She was a total bitch but it really fucked Theresa up for a while.”

**********

Charles walked into the club and looked around, taking a deep breath when he noticed that Jubilee was by herself behind the bar. He walked over slowly, smiling at her as Jubilee noticed he was approaching. “How's it going, bartender extraordinaire?”

“Ooh, I like that title,” Jubilee said, laughing. “How are you doing today, honey?”

Charles sighed and leaned up against the bar. “Better, I think. Look, I'm sorry about the other night. You deserve like a bonus for putting up with me.”

“I won't turn down a bonus if you want to talk to Bobby about that,” Jubilee teased, tossing her towel down on the bar. “But seriously, sweetie, it's no big deal. You know it too. We are a family and this is what we do. Take care of each other.”

“I have been pretty shit about that lately,” Charles mused. “I have been pretty shit about everything lately.”

Jubilee reached out and gently caressed the side of Charles's face. “No one blames you for it, honey. We understand how much all of this has fucked you up. And trust me, when Erik finally decides to show his sorry ass around here again, everyone is going to let him know about it too.”

“No,” Charles said, shaking his head. “No one should do anything like that.”

“I know, honey, but that is not going to happen and you know it. They all think they have the right to tell him what a fucking asshole he is.”

“Except for the fact that he's not,” Charles said, ducking his head down. “I have a question to ask you.”

“Anything you need, sweetie.”

“The other night you said that Erik didn't leave because of the shooting. That he had another reason. What is it?”

Jubilee sighed heavily. “I'm not sure that is something that Erik would want me spreading around. He swore me to secrecy on it. I don't exactly understand why it is that he chose this particular way of dealing with it, but I don't blame him for doing it either. He needed this. He did not go about it in the right way and he has upset more than a few people, but I cannot deny that Erik needed this.”

Charles sighed as Jubilee picked up the towel again, wiping down the bar. “I clearly don't know everything that is going on, but if just ditching everyone was the only way he could deal with things then maybe he needs some sort of help. I mean, Ororo has been trying to teach me about coping skills and stuff, but there is a point where the coping skills become more harmful than the situation you're using them in.”

Jubilee smiled. “Then you need some different coping skills.”

Charles reached across the bar, snagging a cherry from the bowl. “So, what are your coping skills then, hm?”

“Shopping, for one,” Jubilee said, grinning. “Seriously, if I am having an absolutely shit day, I go buy myself a new pair of shoes. Or a new scarf. Something fabulous. If I need to feel all warm and fuzzy, I go to the pet store and hold all the puppies. And when I just need to forget about everything for a little while, well, that's Coney Island.”

Charles smiled. “Maybe I should adopt your coping skills. Mine involve copious amounts of alcohol and whatever drug is closest to me at that moment.”

“Charles, it totally doesn't have to be that way,” Jubilee said, tossing the towel down towards the other end of the bar. “I mean, you do have the choice not to use alcohol and drugs as a coping skill.”

“Sex is another,” Charles said quietly. “Sebastian is all to happy to help with that one.”

Jubilee's eyes widened. “You've been having sex with Sebastian?”

“Since the day after Erik left,” Charles murmured. “He's the only one who understands.”

“Fuck, no wonder he's become so protective of you,” Jubilee muttered. “Honey, I don't know if sex is really all that great of a coping skill either. Have you thought about checking yourself into rehab? You're really no good to anyone when you're like this. Scott has been pretty much doing your job for the last nine months because you're always too wrecked to do it.”

Charles leaned across the bar and pressed a soft kiss to Jubilee's forehead. “I'm not ready for that.”

“Well, you're going to have to be ready for it someday, honey,” Jubilee said. “And that way you'll end up all fresh and fabulous and sober, and things will be so much better. Just look at Scott. Rehab did wonders for him.”

“Someone has to look after Peter,” Charles pointed out, prompting Jubilee to roll her eyes.

“Between Scott, Hank, and Bobby, you know that Peter will be taken care of.”

Charles nodded and snagged another cherry, popping it into his mouth and quickly chewing it. “I know, I know, but I meant it when I said I'm not ready. It's not a bad idea though.”

“Of course it's not a bad idea! I came up with it!” Jubilee laughed. “No, seriously, I think that you would feel a lot better about everything if you got yourself sober. You might actually be happy then.”

Charles chuckled. “When exactly did you become a therapist?”

“I'm a bartender,” Jubilee said, smiling at him. “Therapist is part of the job description.”

John walked into the room then and headed in their direction, smiling at Charles as he ducked under the bar. “Charles, Sebastian is up in the restaurant looking for you.”

“Then I'll head up there,” Charles said, turning his gaze to Jubilee. “Thanks for the talk, Jubes.”

“Anytime, sweetie,” Jubilee said, waiting until Charles had left the club before speaking again. “He's been fucking Sebastian.”

John nearly dropped the bottle of tequila that he'd just grabbed. “What?”

“He told me he's been having sex with Sebastian since Erik left,” Jubilee said, sighing heavily. “I knew that they'd gotten close, but I didn't think they'd gotten that close.”

“I'm surprised Sebastian hasn't been crowing about that like he does with all of his conquests,” John murmured. “Shocked, really.”

“I don't know, but I'm really worried about what's going to happen when Erik gets back. I mean, it's really obvious that Charles has a thing for him, not Sebastian.”

John groaned. “If Charles ends whatever this thing with Sebastian is when Erik gets back, I'm kind of really worried about Sebastian's reaction to that. Of course, I think Sebastian wants to murder Erik right now, and really, that should have told me that there was more to this friendship with Charles than meets the eye. Fuck, this is going to be bad.”

“Emma told me that Charles has told Sebastian everything about his time under that motherfucker's control,” Jubilee said softly. “And Charles has been awfully dependent on Sebastian ever since Erik left. Ruining that dynamic between the two of them might set off fireworks like we've never seen from Sebastian before. I mean, he has started acting like much more of an adult in the last nine months, and I'm willing to bet that is Charles's influence on him.”

John found glasses and poured them each a drink, sliding one down the bar to Jubilee before quickly downing the other. “This is going to be a disaster, isn't it?”

“Yeah, I think it is.” Jubilee knocked back her drink and turned to find John shaking some pills out of a bottle and into his hand. “What's that?”

“Nothing you need to worry about,” John said, shoving the bottle back into his pocket and pouring himself another drink, using it to wash the pills down his throat. “Just a little something to get me through the show tonight. It's fine.”

“Johnny, seriously, what is that?” Jubilee asked, alarmed.

John just pressed a kiss to her head and ducked back out from the bar, heading towards the stage. “Don't worry about it!”

Jubilee sighed heavily as John disappeared and reached for the bottle, pouring herself another drink and knocking it back. If John was popping pills, then she was going to make sure that Bobby knew about it as soon as she saw him again because she just knew that nothing good was going to come from that either.

**********

“Okay, we're flying out tomorrow morning,” Marie said, looking up from the laptop and smiling at Kitty. “And, um, Bella and Remy are coming with us.”

Kitty sighed. “Why?”

“Well, Bella has a job in New York next week and she's just decided to come out early. And Remy,” Marie paused. “Well, I don't really know why Remy is coming. I think he was trying to say something about a meeting, but it was difficult to understand him with Bella's tongue in his mouth.”

Kitty rolled her eyes and climbed onto the sofa, snuggling up to Marie's side. “I thought you said their thing was just casual.”

“I did,” Marie said, putting her arm around Kitty and pulling her closer. “I don't really know what's going on with them. It's...odd, to say the least. I never would have put the two of them together.”

Kitty shrugged. “It doesn't really matter, does it?”

“When this ends as badly as every other relationship I have ever seen Remy attempt to have? Yes, then it will matter.” Marie set the laptop to the side and bent to kiss Kitty. “I don't want to see Bella get hurt.”

Kitty smiled against her lips. “What about Remy?”

“I couldn't care less about Remy, to be honest,” Marie murmured. “Besides, I don't think he knows the meaning of the word hurt. He doesn't feel it, only inflicts it.”

Kitty nodded and shifted closer to her, dropping her head onto Marie's shoulder. “He sounds a lot like Sebastian.”

Marie laughed. “A little, yeah. Except Sebastian is much better at figuring out what he wants than Remy is.”

“Something tells me that Sebastian and Remy will get along beautifully, and that worries me more than I can say,” Kitty laughed. “Can we try to keep them from meeting? Because...yeah, let's make sure that they don't meet.”

“Probably a good idea,” Marie murmured. “So, are you ready to talk about it?”

Kitty looked up at her. “Talk about what?”

“Whatever it is that has you so worried that you can barely sleep.”

Kitty sighed and started playing with the hem of Marie's shirt. “I'm just worried about Erik, that's all.”

“He's coming home,” Marie pointed out.

“Well, yeah, but that is not the end of this,” Kitty said. “There is a lot of shit that has gone down in the last few months, and I do not even want to begin to contemplate how everyone is going to react to him coming back. I keep telling him not to worry, but...queens can hold quite a grudge, you know, and for a long motherfucking time too. I'm worried about what sort of reaction he's going to get.”

Marie pondered that for a second. “Don't you think a lot of it will depend on what sort of reaction he gets from Charles?”

“I suppose,” Kitty sighed. “But I'm not entirely certain of what sort of reaction he's going to get from Charles either. I mean, it's been months since I've seen Charles somewhat close to sober, and if he is drunk as fuck when Erik shows up, I'm afraid it could get ugly.”

Marie brought one hand up to gently rub the back of Kitty's neck. “So it sounds like it is probably a better idea for Erik to return in the middle of the day? Less people around to witness if it does turn ugly?”

“Yeah,” Kitty mumbled, turning more into Marie's touch. “If this doesn't work out, if someone doesn't forgive him, it's going to tear the whole family apart. And I need the family, babe. Almost as much as I need you.”

“Shh,” Marie shushed. “Don't think about that. Everything will be fine. You'll see.”

Kitty sighed heavily. “I hope you are right. I really, really do.”


	8. Chapter 8

“You've certainly moved up in the world,” Erik said softly, glancing around the swanky apartment before flashing a shaky smile at Kitty. “It's nice.”

Kitty laughed and ducked into the spare room, setting Erik's suitcase on the bed. “It's Marie's place. Or, well, it was Marie's place and now it is our place. I am still not used to saying that, to be honest.”

Erik nodded and ran his fingers along the edge of a table, taking in the expensive looking accessories. “What is it that she does again?”

“She's a makeup artist, and before you say a thing, yes, she makes way more money than I do,” Kitty said, walking back out of the room and over to Erik, wrapping her arms around him. “I am not the kind of person that is going to complain about my sugar mama making more money than I do, however. I love that she makes more money than I do, especially since she has no problems spending it on me.”

“That better not be the only thing you love,” Marie teased, walking in from the hallway and tossing the mail onto a table.

Kitty laughed and glanced over her shoulder, grinning at her. “No, I love your incredibly talented, filthy tongue too.”

“That's more like it,” Marie laughed, walking over to them. “Bella and Remy are meeting us for dinner at seven.”

Kitty pulled away from Erik and turned towards Marie. “And?”

“And what?” Marie said. “You know where Bella wants to go after that. Remy's never been there.”

Erik's shoulders slumped and he sighed heavily. “Genosha.”

“Well, we will just have to tell them that that's not an option,” Kitty stated, reaching over and rubbing Erik's back gently. “Remy can see Genosha some other time.”

“No,” Erik mumbled, running his hands over his face. “I mean, it's probably better that I do this sooner rather than later, right?”

“Honey, I don't want you to do something that you are not ready for,” Kitty said quickly. “Seriously, our social life is nowhere near as important as making sure that you're okay.”

Erik just shook his head. “The sooner I do this, the sooner I will be okay. In fact, fuck it. I should go do it now.”

“Erik,” Kitty started, but Erik pulled away from her grasp and headed towards the spare bedroom. 

“Raven told me like every fucking day that I was being a coward and you know what? She was right.” Erik snagged his suitcase off the bed and came back into the main room. “I don't want to be a coward anymore.”

Kitty sighed when she felt Marie's arms wrap around her, leaning back into her touch. “Do you want me to go with you?”

“No,” Erik said softly, shaking his head again. “I have to do this by myself.”

Kitty nodded and gave Erik a smile. “Then good luck, baby.”

Erik smiled back. “Thanks, honey. I think I'm going to need it.”

Kitty watched helplessly as Erik walked out of the apartment, turning around and burying her head in Marie's neck as soon as the door was closed. “I'm terrified.”

“Don't be,” Marie soothed, walking them towards the bedroom. “Everything will be alright.”

“I just hope he knows what he's doing,” Kitty mumbled. “I'm sick of watching everyone get hurt over this.”

Marie pulled Kitty's face up to meet hers and kissed her gently. “There's nothing you can do about it, sweetie. You got him to come back here. The rest of it has to be up to him.”

“I know,” Kitty whispered, sighing contentedly when Marie pulled her shirt over her head. “I just...I don't have any idea what it is he's walking back into, you know? I'd feel better if I knew.”

Marie nodded. “Which tells me you need distraction.”

“Oh?” Kitty asked teasingly. “And you think you can provide that?”

Marie growled and pushed Kitty onto the bed. “You better fucking believe I can.”

**********

Scott glanced up when he heard a beep, frowning when he noticed that the building's back door had opened. He glanced over at the clock to check the time, his frown deepening when he realized that it was definitely not a normal delivery time. Sighing heavily, he pushed his chair back from his desk and swirled it around, flicking his gaze across the various video screens to see if there was anything abnormal.

He stood up when he noticed a figure standing in the hallway near the back door, leaning forward to attempt to figure out who it was. He mentally ran through a list of everyone that he knew was in the building, crossing off each one as they came to mind. He straightened himself up and headed towards the door, making sure to grab the baseball bat that hung on the wall before he set out towards the back hallway.

The offices were quiet, for once, and Scott silently thanked God for that because it allowed him to listen for any clues as to what this mystery person could be doing. But the sounds were few and far between, the slight squeak of a shoe against the tiled floor, the flick of a lighter as it was being lit. Scott spent a moment wondering why whoever this was would come inside to smoke, but quickly dismissed that thought, quickening his steps as he suddenly didn't know what was happening with the lighter.

He turned around the corner and found that one of the overhead lights had burned out, casting the man near the door half in shadow. He did notice the glowing end of a cigarette and so he relaxed slightly, though he was more confused than ever as to why this person had come inside to smoke.

“Are you going to stand there staring at me all day or are you going to tell me why no one has fixed this fucking light?”

Scott let the baseball bat slip from his fingers and walked forward, throwing his arms around the man as he breathed a sigh of relief. “Erik. Don't motherfucking scare me like that again.”

“Sorry,” Erik said, pulling back to take another drag off what Scott could now tell wasn't a cigarette but a joint. “I didn't think anyone would hear me come in.”

“I saw you on the monitor,” Scott said, taking a step back. “We invested in a state of the art security system while you were gone.”

Erik just nodded. “If you saw me on the monitor, then how come you were surprised it was me?”

“If the light was working, I probably would have been able to tell. Instead, I just saw a man in the shadows.” Scott took a good look at him and noticed how pale and thin Erik looked. “You look terrible.”

“Yeah, I...anyway, I'm back, but um, keep that news to yourself for a little while, okay? I'm not ready to see all of them yet.”

“Not a problem,” Scott said. “You going up to the loft for a while?”

“Yeah,” Erik said, bringing the joint to his lips again. “Any chance you can keep everyone away from there for a few hours?”

“I'll tell them that Charles requested he be by himself for a while. I'm pretty sure he's passed out up there anyway.”

“Thanks,” Erik murmured. “I'll come by your office later, or maybe tomorrow, and we can talk about things that I've missed then, alright?”

“Sounds good,” Scott said, reaching out and pulling Erik into a hug again. “I'm so glad that you're back. It's not the same around here without you.”

Erik smiled at him. “Thanks, Scott.”

“Anytime, honey.” Scott picked the baseball bat up off the floor and started to walk back to his office, leaving Erik to stare over at the staircase. 

He was going up there. 

He really was.

After another joint.

**********

Charles froze as he heard a key slide into the lock, forcing himself to take a deep breath as the door opened behind him. He didn't want company right now, but when he glanced over at the clock and realized it was too early for school to be out, he became alarmed. If that wasn't Peter behind him, then who exactly was it?

He heard the telltale sounds of a suitcase being set on the wooden floor. He hoped and prayed that meant that the person behind him was the one person he wanted it to be, but he couldn't bring himself to turn around. For months he had waited, paced around the floor and barely slept, lost any grip he possibly had on the road to sobriety and drunkenly cried, all with the thought that this moment wouldn't actually ever come. But now, maybe it had, and he suddenly had no clue how to deal with it.

Erik glanced around the apartment until his eyes landed on where Charles was hunched over the kitchen sink. He leaned back against the door and tried to figure out what he was supposed to do next. He wanted some sort of clue from Charles but he wasn't moving, so still that if he couldn't hear his heavy breathing he would have been concerned otherwise. Sighing heavily, he pushed himself away from the door and took a tentative step towards the kitchen. “Charles?”

Charles straightened up but didn't turn around, a million different thoughts racing through his mind. “Erik.”

Erik took another step towards the kitchen, shoving his hands in his pockets and cursing when he realized he'd smoked his last joint downstairs. “Can you not even look at me?”

“I don't know,” Charles said softly, clenching his fingers tightly around the edge of the sink.

“I, um...” Erik paused and took a shaky breath. “I deserve that, I suppose.”

Charles nodded. “You deserve worse.”

“I know I do,” Erik said, leaning against the edge of the kitchen counter, eyes focused on the back of Charles's head. “But maybe you could turn around and look at me anyway.”

Charles's shoulders slumped and he let out a choked sound of frustration. “I didn't think you were coming back. Ever. So I need a few minutes to get used to the fact that you actually have, alright?”

“I said in the note that I was coming back,” Erik mumbled.

Charles laughed bitterly. “Yeah, and like I couldn't see through that lie? Do you know how many motherfucking nights I laid in bed wondering if you were still breathing? If he'd found some way to finish the job he'd started that night? I've been waiting for the police to call and say that someone had discovered your body, not you just walking back into the apartment like nothing has happened.”

Erik sighed and turned around, opening up the cabinets to see if there were still any cigarettes left there. “Raven wouldn't let me do it.”

“Raven?” 

“I went to Los Angeles and crashed in on Raven,” Erik said, reaching into the cabinet and pulling out the carton that he had found. “I only ended up there when I was ready to fucking do it. She talked me out of it.”

Charles glanced up and looked out the small window, frowning when he noticed it had begun to rain. “You were going to kill yourself.”

“Yes,” Erik said sharply, fumbling around with the carton until he had a cigarette in his hand.

“He'd almost killed you and then you were going to finish it off yourself,” Charles sighed. “Why?”

Erik quickly lit the cigarette and took a drag off it, tossing his lighter onto the counter. “I don't have to answer that.”

“Yes, you do,” Charles said seriously. “I don't understand why you would want to do that.”

“Yeah, well, you're not the one who is positive either,” Erik said, taking a long drag and blowing the smoke up towards the ceiling. 

“Positive?”

“They told me while I was in the hospital and I freaked,” Erik said softly. “I don't expect you to understand.”

Charles took a deep breath and turned around, his eyes drinking in the sight of Erik leaning against the counter, arms crossed against his chest, cigarette hanging out of his mouth. “I didn't know you smoked.”

Erik plucked the cigarette out of his mouth and smiled softly at him. “Only when I'm stressed. It's only this at the moment because I ran out of weed.”

Charles shook his head lightly. “I thought you were Mr. Anti-Drugs.”

“The shit you take? Yes. But I've discovered that a little bit of weed can be quite helpful from time to time,” Erik said, taking another drag. “Anyway, I'm home now.”

“And you are staying this time?” Charles asked tentatively.

Erik nodded. “My mid-life crisis is over. I'm not going anywhere ever again.”

Charles rolled his eyes. “You are too young to have had a mid-life crisis.”

“Not when I've got this horrid virus, I'm not,” Erik said, walking over to the sink and tapping the cigarette against the edge of it. “I'll be lucky to reach sixty, I think.”

Charles leaned up against the counter next to him. “I think you need to learn more about being positive then. They've made all kinds of developments in medicines that will let you live a long and healthy life.”

“And how the hell do you know that?”

“I read up about it before Sebastian went with me to get tested,” Charles said softly. “Ororo suggested that I should so that the question was answered and not some lingering thing in the back of my mind. It came back negative and I've never been so happy in my life.”

“That's great, Charles. Really great.”

“If you don't take care of yourself, then yes, you'll be lucky to reach sixty. But if you do, then you can likely live just as long as you would have otherwise.”

“What the hell have you been doing, talking to Kitty already? I just got back like ten minutes ago,” Erik said.

Charles frowned and looked over at him. “Kitty?”

Erik sighed. “I called her the day after Halloween to see how it had gone. She heard Raven in the background and went to Los Angeles and tracked me down.”

Charles laughed. “So that was the big emergency that she needed off work for but couldn't tell Scott about.”

Erik smiled. “She went over Bobby's head?”

“Oh yeah,” Charles said, reaching up to pull at Erik's arms until he got one loose, wrapping his fingers around his elbow. “I think you should give her a raise.”

“I think that's a good idea.” Erik set the cigarette in the sink and let Charles pull him closer, wrapping his arms around him and smiling when Charles's head came to rest on his shoulder. “So, you still mad at me?”

“Furious,” Charles whispered, wrapping his arms around Erik's waist. “So mad I can hardly see straight.”

Erik squeezed him tight. “Can't say that I blame you.”

“Are you sure this isn't some dream I'm having?” Charles asked.

“No, it's not a dream.” Erik shook his head. “I am not sure I know words in either of the languages I speak to begin to explain how deeply sorry I am for the way this affected you. I was only thinking about me when I did it, and it was selfish and horrible, and I just...”

“Shh,” Charles said. “It's alright.”

Erik closed his eyes and rested his head against Charles's. “I still owe you a million apologies.”

“Then apologize,” Charles said softly.

“I'm sorry,” Erik said quickly. “I'm so, so sorry, Charles.”

“That's all you have to say,” Charles said, taking a deep breath. “To me, at least. I don't know how anyone else is going to react to you being back.”

“Charles, I'm being serious.”

“So am I,” Charles said. “You're back. That's all that matters.”

“But it shouldn't be!” Erik exclaimed, pulling back and flailing his arms around in an attempt to get his point across. “You should be so angry that you can barely stand to be in the same room as me!”

Charles laughed. “Sebastian suggested that I hit you.”

“You should!”

Charles reached out and lightly slapped him on the cheek. “There. Feel better?”

Erik stared at him in disbelief. “I don't understand you sometimes, you know that.”

“Neither do I,” Charles said, looking over at the clock. “Ooh, I have to go make sure Peter gets back from school on time.”

“School?” Erik asked, surprised.

“Yeah, Jean enrolled him in school. He didn't want to just be a high school dropout.”

“Right,” Erik said, running his hands over his face. “I suppose I should prepare to see him then.”

“Oh, don't worry, he won't be up here until his shift ends at close.”

“His shift?”

“He works the night shift,” Charles explained as he walked towards the door. “I'm sure you'll hear all about it. He enjoys it a lot.”

“I missed a lot, didn't I?”

Charles paused at the door. “Yeah, you did. But we can get to all of that another time. I'm not going to say anything about you being here. When you're ready to face everyone, come on down.”

“Charles,” Erik said before he could open the door, “I don't deserve to be forgiven so easily.”

“Look, it's like this, alright,” Charles said. “I have spent months getting over the fact that you were gone. I went about it in a really, really fucked up way, but I did. And now that you are home, I would much rather concentrate on moving forward than wasting it being mad about something I've been mad about for months. I'm sick of being mad at you, Erik. I just want to go back to the way everything was.”

Erik leaned back against the refrigerator. “It can't.”

“I know that,” Charles said. “But it'll be a lot closer to that than it was an hour ago, and that's all I need to know. I'll talk to you later.”

Charles opened the door and jogged down the stairs, leaving Erik standing in the kitchen and wondering what in the hell had just happened.


	9. Chapter 9

Bobby flipped through the mail as he opened the door to Erik's office, plucking out the bills that needed to be attended to and tossing the rest of it onto the desk. He turned back towards the door and moved to turn off the lights, freezing when he realized he hadn't turned them on. He glanced over at the desk and then blinked a few times.

“Afternoon, Bobby,” Erik said, reaching out and picking up the mail. “Anything interesting today?”

Bobby gaped at him. “Erik?”

“The last time I checked, that was my name,” Erik said, frowning at a piece of junk mail and tossing it into the trash.

Bobby shook his head and dropped the bills that he was holding, his mouth flapping as he tried to figure out what exactly he should say. “You...”

“I got back earlier this afternoon,” Erik said. “And yes, Charles already knows.”

Bobby took a deep breath and calmly shut the office door, walking towards the desk and sitting down across from Erik. “You lousy motherfucker.”

Erik sighed and sat back in his chair, studying Bobby for a moment. “So, I suppose I don't really need to ask if you are upset.”

“You...you...urgh!” Bobby exclaimed, clenching his fingers around the arms of the chair. “I don't know whether to slap you or hug you or just curse you out like you fucking deserve.”

Erik bit back a smile. “Might I suggest a combination of the three?”

“This is not something to motherfucking joke about!” Bobby stood up and pushed the chair back, leaning onto the desk and glaring at Erik. “Do you have any idea what the past few months have been like? Did it ever occur to you that you were leaving more than just him behind?”

Erik tossed the mail onto the desk and looked up at Bobby. “No.”

Bobby's jaw dropped and he sat back down, staring at Erik in disbelief. “Excuse me?”

“No,” Erik said again. “I didn't think about any of that. I didn't even really think of what it would do to him. I just thought that I needed to get the fuck out of here for a while.”

Bobby shook his head lightly. “And I suppose now you think you can just walk back in here and expect everything to be perfectly fine.”

“As far as the business is concerned, yes,” Erik said, smiling at him. “I know for a fact that it was left in very capable hands.”

“Well, then you can give those capable hands one hell of a bonus for doing your job, and Charles's job, on top of our own for the last nine months,” Bobby said bitterly. “But I was not talking about the business.”

Erik took a deep breath. “I understand that I am going to have some work to do to get back into people's good graces,” he said softly. “I was hoping that perhaps I'd have you on my side for that, but if not then fine. I'll have to work on you too.”

“Well, maybe if you told me why the fuck it was you had to leave, you might,” Bobby said after a moment. “You're the most dependable person I've ever met, Erik. You're always there if I need you for anything. And then you just went and disappeared for nine months.”

Erik took a deep breath. “I'm positive.”

Bobby stared at him without saying anything, so Erik continued. “They did a test in the hospital and told me there. I freaked the fuck out and ran once they discharged me. That's what happened.”

“Well, knowing your reason for doing it is very different than understanding your reason for doing it because I definitely don't,” Bobby said after a moment. “Have you been taking care of yourself?”

“No,” Erik said, shaking his head. “I'm going to get started on that tomorrow. Today, I just need to get resettled in here and hopefully avoid any major discussions like the one we're having right now.”

“Because you're not going to want to explain yourself to anyone and yet I think that's what everyone needs the most from you.”

Erik nodded. “So you think I should tell everyone.”

“I think it would be a start,” Bobby said quietly. “You are the head of this family, Erik. You set the example for the young ones to follow, and this was not a very good one. Honesty might repair some of that damage.”

“What the fuck am supposed to do, Bobby? Call a staff meeting and announce that I'm positive?” Erik laughed. “That is not happening.”

“Then maybe a fucking apology would be a better place to start.”

“The only person I have to apologize to is Charles. That is it.”

Bobby groaned and stood up, heading towards the door. “I'm starting to think I liked it better when you were gone. Then I didn't have to listen to your pathetic stubbornness.”

“Fuck off, Bobby,” Erik said sharply.

Bobby stopped at the door and turned back to look at Erik. “Look, I know that you are used to having all of us in debt to you over things, but you're just going to have to get used to the fact that this time, you are the one that owes all of us. And trust me when I say that we aren't going to just forget about it.”

“Shit, I know,” Erik sighed, slumping down in his chair. “I just don't know how to fucking deal with that. Clearly it is not going well, based on this conversation.”

“Well, you better fucking figure it out and fast,” Bobby said, pulling the door open. “Because by the time you walk out of this office, you better be fucking prepared for the fact that the whole family will know that you're back. I'm sending out a mass text in about thirty seconds.”

“Bobby...”

“No, Erik,” Bobby said, shaking his head as he walked out the door. “If you're back then you're back. You don't get any more fucking time. You've already had months of it.”

**********

Darwin opened the door to the restaurant and slowly pulled Alex inside. “So, um, you can just commandeer one of the booths, okay? Like, that one in the corner maybe?” he said, pointing towards the one he was referring to. “And I'll come by and check on you every once and a while, and bring you some food and stuff, okay?”

Alex nodded and tried to smile at him. “Darwin, just work, okay? Don't worry about me.”

“Worrying about you is like the only thing I'm fucking capable of sometimes,” Darwin said, pulling Alex closer and kissing him softly. “But I'll try my best.”

Alex laughed against his lips and kissed him back. “Go fucking work already.”

Darwin glanced down when his phone beeped, pulling it out of his pocket and clicking through to the new message. “You have got to be motherfucking kidding me.”

“OH MY FUCKING GOD!”

Darwin's head quickly turned towards the counter and he saw Sean standing there, staring at his own phone. “Sean, did you just get the same message I got?”

“From Bobby?” Sean shrieked. “Fucking hell yes, bitch!”

Darwin sighed and turned towards Alex, flashing him a sympathetic smile. “I am so sorry that you have to be here in the middle of this.”

Alex gave him a confused look. “In the middle of what?”

“Let's just say the shit is about to hit the fan, okay?” Darwin said, ushering him towards the corner booth. “It would probably be best for you to stay right here and um, just watch or something.”

Alex shook his head but sat down anyway. “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Darwin. No matter the situation.”

“Yeah, I know,” Darwin said, bending down to drop a kiss onto the top of Alex's head. “But the thing is that I don't even know what on earth the situation truly is right now. And, just...trust me on this one, okay?”

“DARWIN!” Sean yelled out. “He's in his motherfucking office!”

Darwin glanced over towards the offices and then back at Alex, dropping down into the booth with him. “You know what? Maybe I should stay here. Out of the way and all of that. I mean, I'm angry, but I'm nowhere near as angry as some of the others are, and well, if they don't kill Erik, I can always yell at him later or something.”

Alex laughed and wrapped his arm around Darwin's shoulders. “How about you start by telling me what the fuck is going on, hm? Then maybe I could help you assess the situation better. Or something.”

“DARWIN!” Sean yelled out again, waving at him from behind the counter. “Honey, there are tables to wait on and shit, and Emma had to leave early today! And WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SITTING DOWN FOR WHEN ERIK IS BACK? We have to get a plan into action!”

Darwin shook his head and stood back up, giving Alex and apologetic smile. “I'll explain on my break, I guess.”

“Go on,” Alex said, laying the newspaper he'd been holding onto the table and motioning towards it. “I've got some serious reading to do, and you've got money to make.”

“DARWIN!”

Alex laughed again. “Get to work before you get fired, hm?”

Darwin sighed and spun around, stalking over to the counter and leaning against it. “Do you have any idea how annoying you are today?”

“So, that's him?” Sean squealed, glancing over towards Alex. “Honey, he's gorgeous!”

“Yeah, that's him,” Darwin said, smiling. “Don't go over there and pester him, alright? I think it's best if I introduce him to everyone slowly.”

Sean huffed and turned back towards the stove. “I just wanted to say hello, but fine. Now, before Hank gets in here and starts yelling at us, get your ass to work. Once you've gotten everyone's orders, then you can come stand here while I cook and we can over over what we're going to say to Erik.”

“I don't really know if I want to get up in his face,” Darwin said, reaching up to rub the back of his neck nervously. “I mean, he like signs our paychecks and stuff, and well, I really need that money.”

Sean rolled his eyes. “First off, that accountant guy signs our paychecks, not Erik. Secondly, he totally deserves to have every single one of us up in his face, so you better believe that you are getting up in his face.”

“But does he really?” Darwin said. “I mean, it's his business. He can technically come and go as he pleases, and well, whatever the deal with him and Charles is should be between them.”

Sean reached out and smacked Darwin on the head. “He doesn't have the right to just disappear on us whenever he fucking feels like it. We motherfucking depend on him, bitch. He's supposed to be the responsible one.”

Darwin sighed. “I know. But don't you think it's a little harsh to just start yelling at him the second he gets back? I mean, shouldn't we like find out why he left and all that first, and then decide if he needs to be yelled at?”

Sean spun around and grabbed Darwin by the elbow. “You saw what happened to Charles when he left. You know what kind of hell that is. Why he motherfucking left isn't an issue. It's the consequences of it that I want to bitch slap him around for.”

“Look, he totally deserves a bitch slap or nineteen for the way Charles totally fell apart without him,” Darwin said. “But, I think we should be like actually concerned about why he left and stuff too. You don't just fucking disappear for months on end without a damn good reason for it.”

Sean sighed and leaned back against the stove. “Then you can be all concerned about that, and I'll get the bitch slapping done.”

“So long as you make sure that he doesn't fire either of us,” Darwin said, reaching towards his apron. “I've got to get to work.”

Sean frowned as Darwin walked away. “Why on earth do you think he's going to fire us?”

“Because he fucking can!” Darwin called back. “Or have you fucking forgotten that?”

“I have not,” Sean pouted. “I just...he's not going to fire us, right?”

“He better not!”


	10. Chapter 10

“Yes, I went and crashed in on Raven.”

Hank groaned and collapsed onto the sofa, shooting Erik a venomous look. “Why?”

“Because I needed somewhere to go and I knew she wouldn't call you and tell you I was there,” Erik said, pushing his chair back from his desk and walking towards Hank. “I know that is probably really difficult for you to accept, but she's still my friend whether she's a stone-cold bitch or not.”

“Fine,” Hank sighed heavily as Erik sat down next to him. “But I really can't understand this.”

“Hank, I think you're more angry with me leaving than you are with the fact that I spent a few months with Raven. I'm not stupid.”

“Erik,” Hank started, before slumping down and resting his head on Erik's shoulder. “I want to hit you right now. I hope you know that.”

Erik turned and pressed a kiss to the top of Hank's head. “I'm starting to think that is a reaction I'll be getting quite a bit of.”

“Yeah, well, you're definitely going to get threatened a lot,” Hank said. “But right now, I really need to tell you some things because I think you deserve to know what's been going on. It's going to probably complicate a lot of things and I think everyone should be prepared for the explosion.”

“I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.”

Hank took a deep breath and started playing with the edge of his shirt. “So, Charles has become very dependent on Sebastian while you were gone.”

“Really? That's surprising.”

“Yeah, well, he's been spending a lot of time with him, and Sebastian has really stepped up and been an incredible friend to him. He's helped Charles get through everything more than any of us have.” Hank paused. “But something came up the other day that explains a lot and also complicates things.”

“And what would that be?”

Hank swallowed hard. “Charles told Jubilee that he's been sleeping with Sebastian ever since you left.”

Erik sat there for a moment before letting out a long, shaky breath. “What?”

“I don't really know his reasons for it because no one has brought it up, but Jubes told John and John told the rest of us. It explains why there are nights when Charles goes over to Sebastian's and doesn't come back until after breakfast, usually with Sebastian in tow. They spend an enormous amount of time together, and I know there have been plenty of nights that Sebastian has spent up in the apartment too.”

Erik's eyes widened. “Sebastian has been in my apartment?”

“Charles let him up there,” Hank said softly. “I mean, Charles does technically live there too.”

Erik shook his head. “I don't even know where to start on this.”

“We all are expecting this fling with Sebastian to end now that you're back, but we're all worried about what is going to happen with Sebastian. You know how dramatic he can get when someone takes away something he's been playing with.”

Erik groaned. “Please don't remind me of that.”

“Yeah, well, I think it's important that you realize that is the sort of reaction that Sebastian is likely to provide to the end of this.”

“Why do you think it's going to end? I mean, there's really no reason for it to.”

Hank was quiet for a moment. “It has become incredibly obvious to all of us that Charles has a thing for you, not Sebastian.”

“Me?” Erik asked, surprised. “What?”

“It's really quite clear.”

“Well, I'll talk to Charles about that when we get a chance to be alone for a while. I'll get this situation resolved in the most amicable manner possible.”

“You should tell him that you like him.”

“He knows that I like him.”

“Not like that,” Hank pointed out. “And don't you dare try to deny it.”

Erik sighed heavily. “He's not ready for something like that.”

“He's more ready than you might think,” Hank said, sitting there quietly for a moment. “Erik, why did you leave?”

Erik sighed again and stood up, walking back to his desk. “Can we save that for another time?”

“No,” Hank said firmly. “You owe us an explanation.”

“I don't owe anyone anything,” Erik snapped, sitting down in his chair. “I am a grown man. I don't have to explain my actions to any of you.”

Hank stood up and walked over to the chair, grabbing onto the back and spinning it around so Erik was facing him. “You do if you want any of us to ever forgive you.”

“I just...” Erik ran his hands over his face. “I need more time to figure out how to do this. This is very difficult for me.”

Hank glared at him. “You've just had nine months!”

“Which I didn't spend sitting around thinking of how to tell everyone about this!” Erik exclaimed. “I just need a few days, Hank. That's all. I promise.”

“Fine,” Hank said. “I'll give you until Friday. Then I'm locking us in this office and not letting you out until you tell me what the fuck is going on.”

Erik smiled. “Does that mean you'll wait until then to hit me?”

“Possibly,” Hank said, glancing towards the clock. “I'd do it now but the dinner rush is about to start and I'm needed out there.”

“It only takes a few seconds to hit me,” Erik pointed out.

“If one only wants to hit you once, yes,” Hank said, walking towards the door. “I'm not sure if one slap is going to get rid of my anger though.”

**********

Hank stood in the doorway that lead into the main room of the restaurant, his eyes trained on the man sitting in the corner booth. He'd heard enough from Sean to know that this was Darwin's Alex, and he'd meant to make his way over there and talk to him, let him know that when he was ready for it there was a place for him at the restaurant just like there was for Darwin and Charles. But then he'd gotten a better look at him, and he found that he just couldn't stop staring.

He had to be seeing things because there was no fucking way Alex was who he thought he might be.

He glanced over at the door when it opened, smiled when Jean walked inside, and turned his attention back to Alex. It wasn't long before Jean was walking up to him, her eyes following his gaze across the room. “Has Scott seen him yet?”

Hank turned to look at her with surprise. “It's really him?”

“It's really him,” Jean said, leaning up against the wall. “I've known for months but Ororo said it was better for this to happen organically instead of Scott beating down the doors of her office trying to get to him. I just didn't think that it would take this long for him to be comfortable enough to come in here.”

Hank sighed heavily. “Why does this have to be happening today? Too much shit has gone down already and it's only going to get worse.”

“What are you talking about?” Jean asked, confused.

“Have you looked at your phone this afternoon?”

“No,” Jean said, reaching for it. “I was in court all day and it didn't exactly cross my mind to check it when I got out of there.”

She clicked through to the message from Bobby and read it three times before she looked up again. “Erik's back? Seriously?”

“He's in Scott's office right now, talking to Scott about things that have happened while he was gone,” Hank said, shaking his head. “At least that will keep Scott occupied for a while so we can figure out what to do about this situation.”

“Erik and I are going to have a very long talk before I go home,” Jean said, shaking her head. “But you're right. He'll be taking up Scott's time for a while because I know Scott's going to go into an incredible amount of detail. I just don't know what to do besides let it happen though.”

“I don't exactly want that going down in the middle of the restaurant,” Hank said. “It's bad enough that shit is going to go down in the club tonight when Sebastian sees Erik.”

“Oh fuck, he's really not going to react to that well, is he?” Jean said, shaking her head. “Maybe you or Scott should keep close to Erik while he's down in the club tonight.”

“I'm sure Scott will do that. I've got to go home tonight,” Hank said. “But this thing with Alex is going to be difficult.”

“Maybe invite him to sit in your office while the dinner rush is going on? I mean, you'll need that table.”

“That's a good idea,” Hank said, looking over at her. “But Scott might just walk in at any moment.”

“Well, it's a better scenario than Scott walking out into the restaurant and seeing him,” Jean pointed out. “And this is something that needs to be handled delicately. If we can get Alex into your office, we could start telling him about this place and casually mention that it used to be Station Thirty. From what Darwin has said to me, Alex has been looking for Station Thirty and hoping that Scott still works there.”

“That could do it,” Hank murmured. “Then we could tell him that Scott still works here and one of us go get him, and the reunion could take place in your office instead of the middle of the restaurant.”

“Well, I'm sold on that plan,” Hank said. “I don't know what else we could do.”

“I don't either,” Jean murmured. “I think it's the best we can do.”

“Alright, I'll go get Alex back into my office,” Hank said. “You here for dinner?”

“Dinner and to talk to Charles. The lawyer called me again. He really wants to get this estate settled.”

Hank nodded. “Charles is probably down in the club already because I know Sebastian is here. Go have some dinner and tell whoever it is that serves you that dinner's on the house tonight.”

“Hank, you really don't have to do that. I am capable of paying for my own dinner.”

“Well, I want to. You're going to be doing entirely too much for us this evening. When you're done with dinner, come back to my office, and then we'll start to enact the plan.”

Jean nodded. “Then I'll eat as fast as I can. The sooner we get this over with, the better for everyone, I think.”

“I agree,” Hank said, starting to walk. “Order whatever you want, okay? Don't worry about how much it costs.”

“Thanks!” Jean called out as Hank headed towards the booth where Alex sat.

Alex looked up as Hank approached, and Hank took a deep breath before sitting down across from him. “Hello, Alex. I'm Hank McCoy, the restaurant's manager.”

“Darwin's boss, right?” Alex said, continuing when Hank nodded. “Thank you so much for giving him this job. I don't know where we'd be right now if he hadn't gotten this job.”

“Well, we are here to help,” Hank said, smiling at him. “And we're going to help you as best we can. Whenever you're ready for it, there is a place for you here.”

Alex's eyes widened. “What?”

“You have a job here whenever you're ready,” Hank said again. “We'll find somewhere for you.”

“Wow,” Alex murmured. “I wasn't expecting that.”

“How about we go back to my office and talk?” Hank asked. “The dinner rush is going to be starting soon and we'll need this table.”

“Sure,” Alex said, looking around for Darwin. “I don't want to be in the way. I just want to tell Darwin what is going on first.”

“Of course,” Hank said, catching Darwin's attention from across the room. “Darwin, come here.”

Darwin made his way over to them and peered at Hank with some concern. “Is everything okay, Hank?”

“Everything's fine,” Hank assured. “Alex just wanted you to know that he's going to go sit in my office and talk to me so the table can be used for the dinner rush.”

“But only if it's okay with you,” Alex said quickly. “I don't want to upset you.”

Darwin sighed and sat down next to Alex, wrapping his arms around him. “You're allowed to make your own decisions, Alex. If you want to go with Hank, then that's fine.”

Alex nodded and kissed Darwin softly. “Sorry. I'm just so used to being told what to do.”

“I know,” Darwin said quietly. “But you're not anymore and you never will be again.”

Alex nodded again. “I might need reminders of that for a while.”

“You'll get all the reminders you need,” Darwin said, sliding out of the booth when he heard his name called out. “I'll come to Hank's office on my next break and see how you are doing.”

“Thanks,” Alex said as Darwin walked away.

“Well, shall we?” Hank asked, and Alex gathered up the newspaper in front of him.

“Yes,” Alex murmured, standing up as Hank did the same. “I, um, I want to talk to you about something Darwin said to me about going to rehab. I kind of really need it and he said that the company would pay for it, which I just cannot believe.”

Hank motioned towards the door that led into the back and Alex started walking in that direction. “Well, believe it. We're willing to do whatever is necessary to help get you back on your feet, even if that means paying for you to go to rehab. I'll get Erik, the owner, in there before you leave tonight. He'll tell you the same things I will, I promise.”

Alex sucked in a deep breath as they walked into the back. “That's amazing. Like, unbelievably amazing.”

“Well, making the decision to seek treatment is a brave decision, and it's something that we fully support,” Hank said, inwardly sighing with relief to find the door to Scott's office still shut. “Come on, my office is just over here. And do you want a drink or something? Maybe something to eat? You can have whatever you want on the house.”

Alex turned to Hank and gave him a shy smile. “I am kind of hungry.”

“Then once you get settled in the office, I'll go grab a menu and you can order whatever you want off of it,” Hank said, smiling back. “I'd tell you what is good but to be honest, the whole menu is really good.”

“Then I can't wait to read it and see my options,” Alex said as he walked into the office. “Thanks for this, Hank. I don't want to be in the way when I come in here.”

“You'll never be in the way, Alex,” Hank said. “You'll learn that pretty quickly, hopefully. You're part of the family now and you will always be welcome here. How about you sit on the sofa and I'll go grab that menu, okay? Do you want water or a soda?”

“Water is fine,” Alex said, sitting down. 

“Then I'll be right back,” Hank said, walking out of the office and shutting the door behind him. 

Now he just had to pray that Erik kept Scott occupied long enough for Jean to finish her dinner and come help break the news that Alex was sitting in what was Station Thirty and that his brother was in the office next door.


	11. Chapter 11

Erik smiled when the door to his office opened and Jean walked in. “Jean, it's wonderful to see you.”

“You and I are going to have a very long conversation later,” Jean said seriously, sitting down across from the desk. “But we have a situation happening that you need to be aware of.”

“Is everyone okay?” Erik asked, alarmed.

“Everyone is fine,” Jean assured. “In fact, Scott's about to be ecstatic, I think.”

“I am very confused,” Erik murmured. “So please enlighten me.”

Jean took a deep breath. “We found Alex.”

Erik's jaw dropped and he sat up straight. “What?”

“The Alex that Charles has always mentioned is Scott's brother,” Jean said softly. “Darwin is his boyfriend.”

“Holy fuck,” Erik exclaimed. “Scott didn't say anything to me about this.”

“Scott doesn't know yet, but he is about to,” Jean said, taking another deep breath. “Alex came into the restaurant for the first time today. Scott hasn't seen him yet. Right now Alex is in Hank's office eating some dinner and we're about to tell him that we know where his brother is.”

“You're really serious,” Erik said after a moment. “Alex Summers is currently under this roof.”

“Yes, he is,” Jean replied. “And what I need you to do is keep Scott away from Hank's office for a while. This is something that needs to be done carefully. We don't want to spook Alex.”

“Of course,” Erik said, glancing at the clock. “I'll get him to go down to the club with me, have him and Bobby get me up to speed on what's been happening down there. If Alex is ready to see him, get Vanessa or Ellie to page me, and I'll bring Scott up here.”

“That sounds good,” Jean said, standing up. “We'll get this reunion happening as soon as possible. I'm just so glad I can finally talk about this.”

“You knew?” Erik asked as he stood as well.

“Yes. I've known since they started seeing Ororo, but she told me not to say anything and just let it happen organically. I just didn't think it would take this long. At least Scott and I will have no shortage of things to talk about on our date.”

Erik paused near the door. “Date?”

“Things changed when he was shot and just...it's really time for a date. It sounds like he's been wanting to go on one for a long time so this is a good thing.”

“This is a great thing,” Erik said, smiling. “I'll go distract him now by asking about this date. I'm sure he'll have a lot to say about it.”

“Thanks, Erik,” Jean said as they walked out of the office. “I really appreciate it.”

“I'll do anything to make this happen,” Erik said, walking towards Scott's office.

Jean took a deep breath as she approached Hank's office door, took another one for good measure, thought about what she was going to say, and then opened the door.

This was going to go well.

It had to.

**********

“Look, all you have got to do is go in there and tell them what happened to you,” Sebastian said, pulling Charles along behind him. “Seriously that sounds like so easy because I know there is no way that you have forgotten that.”

“I'll never forget it,” Charles said, sighing as they made their way backstage. “But it is so hard for me to talk about and now they want me to do it in front of a ton of people I don't know.”

Sebastian stopped halfway down the small hallway and turned towards Charles, gently pressing him against the wall. “You will be just fine, I promise. Tell me what day you are testifying and I'll make sure that I'm there for you and all that shit.”

“You...” Charles paused and swallowed hard. “You'll come to the trial for me?”

Sebastian huffed. “Well, you clearly need some sort of emotional support so you can do this. And I might be shallow as fuck, darling, but I'm not an idiot.”

“I wasn't trying to imply that you were,” Charles said, leaning forward and pressing their lips together. “Thanks, honey.”

“It's totally not that big of a deal,” Sebastian said, resuming his walk to the dressing room. “I mean, this is what I'm supposed to do as part of this relationship thing, isn't it?”

“For the ten gazillionth time, we don't have a relationship,” Charles said, following him into the room. “So I don't want you to feel obligated to do something you don't want to do.”

“Relationship or not, I didn't mean it like that,” Sebastian said, sitting down at the vanity. “I want to do it. I was just pointing out that it's the right thing to do for this relationship nonsense or whatever.”

“Relationships are not nonsense and you will realize that one day, I'm sure.”

“I didn't mean I'm ever going to have a relationship beyond this, darling,” Sebastian sighed. “Fuck, I'm not doing too well with this talking thing tonight, am I?”

Charles laughed. “Is there ever a time that you do the talking thing well?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Sebastian shot back at him. “For real though, I know that relationships are not nonsense. I just think that all these relationship rules and guidelines and shit are nonsense. Stereotypes, and you should do this if this is the situation, and self help books, and magazine articles, and all that. That shit is the nonsense.”

Charles laughed some more. “Have you been reading _Cosmo_ again?”

“Maybe,” Sebastian pouted. “Oh, come on! I had to buy it!”

Charles grinned at him. “If you say so.”

“One of these days, Charles, you will learn to appreciate the wonders of fashion and gossip magazines,” Sebastian declared, turning to look at his reflection. “Fuck, I look horrible tonight.”

Charles rolled his eyes. “You look amazing.”

“My hair is like six different kinds of a disaster,” Sebastian said, running his fingers through it. “I am entirely thinking of like shaving it all off or something.”

“Don't you dare!” Charles exclaimed, standing up and walking over to him. “Don't you even fucking think about it!”

Sebastian pulled Charles down for a kiss. “I won't then. But we should totally do a salon day.”

“A salon day?”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Yes, you know, pick one of the fancy salons here in the city and have them do the works on us. We'll get fantabulous designer haircuts and facials and all that shit. Ooh, we are so doing this. You'll love it.”

“Um, alright,” Charles said, giving Sebastian a confused look. “I don't think I understand the point of this, but yeah.”

Sebastian laughed. “Consider it the next part of you becoming comfortable then. I mean, you can't just stay so sheltered forever. You are going to have to venture out more.”

“But I...” Charles trailed off and pulled away from Sebastian. “Never mind. Salon day. Okay.”

Sebastian frowned and made his way over to the sofa, sitting down next to Charles and pulling him into his arms. “What is it, darling?”

“Where do I draw the line, Seb? I don't want to turn into a girl.”

Sebastian sighed and dropped his head onto Charles's shoulder. “Listen to me. A designer haircut and a facial does not mean that you are turning into a girl.”

“Moira goes and does that all the time,” Charles pointed out. “Emma too.”

“Of course, they do. It's called treating yourself fabulously,” Sebastian said, tangling his fingers together with Charles's. “I'm not going to let you turn into a girl, alright? Trust me.”

Charles nodded after a moment. “Okay. I'll trust you.”

“You better,” Sebastian said, sitting up and reaching for his bag. “Gah, Janos and Azazel better get here fucking soon or else I'm going to scream. We haven't finished perfecting the look for tonight yet.”

**********

Jubilee looked up when the door opened, smiling when Scott walked into the room. “Scott! You want a drink? I'll make it for you.”

“Not a fucking thing for me,” Scott said, glancing back at the door. “You want a drink?”

Erik laughed as he walked through the door. “Something tells me that I'll get through tonight better if I stay relatively sober, so no.”

Jubilee's jaw dropped as Erik walked over to them, leaning up against the bar. Her eyes had widened almost comically and she spoke before she could thing. “Erik! It's so nice to see you. I mean, now that you're back. Fuck, everyone is going to kill you. Theresa first. She felt like she lost her father again. I mean, I don't want to kill you for leaving but for how you made my girlfriend feel? You're definitely dead for that. Or, well, fuck.”

Erik laughed. “It's good to see you too, Jubes. And that was cute.”

“No, it really wasn't,” Jubilee mumbled, smiling slightly. “I meant it about killing you.”

“I'd deserve it,” Erik said, sighing. “Something tells me that I'll be back for that drink by the end of the night though.”

“Oh, would you get over this ridiculous thought that everyone is going to use you as a punching bag or something,” Scott said, shaking his head.

“Says the man who hasn't been threatened with slaps all afternoon.”

“Well, I'd like to see them try,” Scott said. “They'll have to get through me first.”

Erik sighed. “They're just trying to protect Charles.”

“Well, they are just going to have to deal with the fact that none of them are hitting you. I highly doubt that Charles would want that happening,” Scott said, turning back to Jubilee. “Look, I'm sure this will spread like wildfire through the queens tonight so feel free to confirm that Erik is back in town if any of them ask, okay?”

“Alright,” Jubilee said, nodding. “I can do that.”

“Thanks, Jubes,” Erik said, smiling at her. “And don't be so hard on Kitty when she gets back. She's the reason that I'm here right now.”

Jubilee gave him a look of surprise. “What?”

“I'll let her tell the tale,” Erik said, heading in the direction of the offices. “Bobby here?”

“He's in the office!” Jubilee called out as Scott followed after him. 

Once they had disappeared, she reached for her phone and immediately called Kitty. She waited a few seconds for someone to pick up, and the moment she heard the hello, she started talking. “Erik is here saying that you are the reason that he is back so you better believe that I need that fucking story right now, you bitch.”

A laugh filtered through. “Jubilee, this is Marie. Kitty's in the shower right now.”

“Oh,” Jubilee said, deflated. “Can you have her call me as soon as she's out then? I need the answers to this before I have to start working.”

“Well, I can give you the answers if you'd like.”

Jubilee immediately perked up again. “That would be fucking amazing, Marie. Do tell.”

“Erik called Kitty the day after Halloween, Kitty heard Raven in the background and realized he was in Los Angeles with her, the two of us went to Los Angeles to track her down, and Kitty talked Erik into coming back to New York with us,” Marie said simply.

“What?” Jubilee exclaimed. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Marie replied. “And if you want more details, well, I'll leave that up to Kitty. You'll see her tonight anyway. The two of us are coming to Genosha with a couple friends of mine from Los Angeles.”

“So I have to watch the bitch party when she should be working? Fuck that,” Jubilee muttered. “Thank you for the information, Marie. I will see you tonight.”

Jubilee hung up the phone before Marie could say anything else, glanced over at the clock before looking around the bar for a moment. It seemed like Scott's clean up from earlier that morning had been detailed enough that she didn't have as much work as usual to set up for that night, so she ducked underneath the bar and headed in the direction of the door. 

Theresa had to hear all about this, and she had to hear all about it right now.

**********

Kitty gasped as Remy came rushing at her, pinning her against the bar and quickly sticking his tongue down her through. She scrambled around for a moment before someone hauled Remy backward, looking up into the annoyed face of her girlfriend. “Marie, he's drunk.”

“That doesn't mean he should be fucking kissing you,” Marie said defensively, shoving Remy at Belladonna and sliding closer to Kitty. “He's got his own bitch to kiss.”

Kitty growled and pulled Marie closer. “I kind of like it when you imply that I'm your bitch, you know that?”

“Better be only mine,” Marie said, smiling at her before kissing Marie quickly. “Jubilee is staring at us.”

“Let her,” Kitty muttered, pulling Marie into a deeper kiss.

Jubilee reached out and smacked the back of Kitty's head. “This is so ridiculously unfair. Like the highest level of unfair. And you won't even tell me the fucking story.”

Kitty pulled away from Marie and turned to look at her. “Jubes, calm the fuck down, okay? I'll tell you the story before we have to work when I get back to work in a couple of days.”

“Fucking bitch,” Jubilee mumbled, glancing over at Belladonna and Remy. “You two want another drink?”

Marie laughed as Remy held his glass out to Jubilee, nodding furiously. “I don't even know what this is what I want like the whole bottle of it.”

Jubilee snatched the glass away from him and took a quick sip. “It's a Tom Collins. I'll make you another one. Anyone else?”

“I want another beer,” Kitty said, reaching out to ruffle Jubilee's hair lightly. 

Jubilee rolled her eyes. “You are being ridiculously boring tonight, drinking beer. Have a proper fucking drink already.”

“Nope, I want to stay relatively sober tonight,” Kitty said, glancing around the club. “So, tell me what's gone down with Erik so far.”

“Like nothing,” Jubilee said, reaching for the gin. “But then again, Sebastian doesn't seem to have seen him yet, and you know that's when the big meltdown starts.”

Kitty sighed as Marie started to nuzzle her neck, a soft smile on her face. “I don't understand why everyone has to get so mad at him. So he made a mistake. Big deal. We make mistakes all the fucking time and he doesn't hold them against us.”

“Yeah, but we don't disappear for months on end when we do,” Jubilee said, handing Remy his drinking and bending down to grab another beer for Kitty. “He at least deserves a couple of days of everyone bitching at him.”

“There's difference between bitching at him and what you know Sebastian is going to do,” Kitty said, glancing over at the stage where Sebastian was dancing away. “I am so fucking worried about what's going to happen.”

Jubilee knocked Kitty in the head with the bottle. “Stop being like that. Sebastian will do what he will do and there's nothing you can do to stop that. And what do you fucking care so much for anyway? All we get to do is watch what is sure to be a great bitch fight. You love those.”

Kitty snatched the bottle away from her. “Not when it's between two members of the family, I don't.”


	12. Chapter 12

Alex forced himself to take a deep breath, and then another, and then another. His eyes blinked a few times before he shook his head, certain that he didn't possibly hear what it is he thought he heard. “This,” he finally croaked out, “this used to be Station Thirty?”

“Yes,” Jean said softly, sitting down on the sofa next to him and placing a gentle hand on his knee. “It was rebranded Genosha about two years ago.”

Alex sucked in another deep breath. “Is there still a club in the basement?”

“Yep,” Hank said, walking around his desk and pulling the other chair closer to the sofa. “It's turned into the place to be for gay nightlife in this area.”

Alex brought his hands up and ran them over his face, taking three more deep breaths before finally asking it. “Does Scott Summers still manage it?”

“No, he doesn't,” Jean said, and Alex's head dropped down.

“Of course,” he muttered. “Of course.”

“Scott manages the entire place,” Jean continued, and Alex's head shot up.

“What?”

“Scott was promoted to the manager of the entire business some time ago,” Jean said as she smiled at him. “He's been in the office next to this one all day.”

Alex started to shake and Jean gently squeezed his knee. “It's okay, Alex. I promise.”

“Does he,” Alex started, then stopped for a moment when his eyes filled with tears. “Does he know I'm here?”

“No,” Hank said, shaking his head. “We wanted to talk to you before we told him. Otherwise, I think Scott would be banging the door down right now trying to get to you.”

“He would?” Alex got out before his voice broke.

“Scott has searched for you since the moment that you disappeared,” Jean said, drawing Alex's attention back to her. “He's tried and tried and tried to find you but he never did. There have been a lot of people who have tried to get him to give it up, tried to tell him that you probably were no longer alive, but he never would.”

Alex took in a shuddering breath. “Really?”

“Yes,” Jean confirmed. “I know for a fact that he is going to be so happy to see you.”

“Even after what I've become?”

“You haven't become anything, Alex. You were forced to do things that you never wanted to do,” Jean stressed. “And you are away from that life now. You have the chance to create a new life for yourself. All you have to do is take it.”

Alex swallowed hard as tears started to run down his cheeks. “I'm so fucked up, Jean,” he got out. “I'm an addict and a drunk and a whore. There's no way he's going to want anything to do with me.”

“That couldn't be further from the truth,” Jean said, reaching out to wipe away his tears. “Scott knows what you've been through. He's gone through this journey with Charles and with Darwin. He has been telling Darwin for months that he wants to help you go through this journey too. He just has no idea that the Alex that Charles and Darwin have told him about is his brother.”

Alex swallowed hard again before leaning back into the sofa and letting out a small laugh. “That actually does sound like something Scott would do. He loves helping people.”

“I know he does,” Hank said, smiling at him. “He does whatever he can for anyone who is here. We have become his family, but none of us come close to meaning to him what I know you do. He searched desperately for you and we promised him that we were going to find you. And we have, just not in the way that anyone would have wanted it to go.”

Alex sat there for a moment before looking over at Jean. “So you think he'd actually talk to me?”

“I think you'll find that he won't let you out of his sight,” Jean said, squeezing his knee again. “Alex, I know that it is really hard to trust people after what you've been through. But I need you to trust me when I tell you that Scott will be so happy to see you. He's not going to care about what you had to do to survive. He's going to care about the fact that you're right there in front of him.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“So, like,” Alex started before pausing. “You could go get him right now?”

“I could go get him right now,” Jean said, smiling at him. “Would you like me to? He's down in the club by now but finding him will be easy enough.”

Alex stayed silent for a minute before nodding. “Yeah, I'd like that.”

Jean gave him a wide smile. “Then stay here with Hank and I will be back with Scott in a little bit.”

Alex turned his attention to Hank as Jean stood up. “You guys are really serious?”

“We're really serious,” Hank said as Jean walked out the door. “You'll be reunited with your brother in a little while.”

Alex gave him a genuine smile. “I would really, really like that.”

“I'm sure,” Hank said, standing up. “Would you like some ice cream? I can go get some from the kitchen while we wait.”

Alex nodded. “That would be great. Thank you, Hank.”

**********

Sebastian jumped down from the stage as soon as the show was over, pushing his way through the crowd as he headed towards where he had noticed them standing. He could see the disapproving look on Bobby's face as he approached, the way that Bobby moved as if to shield Erik from him, but it was far, far too late for that. Sebastian already knew that the motherfucker was back.

“Sebastian,” he heard Bobby warn as he came to a stop in front of them, but Sebastian just shook his head and pushed Bobby out of the way.

“Bobby, I would appreciate it if you would stay out of this.” Sebastian took a step forward and saw Erik's hesitant smile. “Erik. Welcome back.”

Erik started to respond but Sebastian didn't give him the chance to, giving him a solid right hook before Erik even realized that Sebastian was going to punch him. Sebastian heard the people around them gasp as Erik dropped down to the floor, but he just shook his head as Bobby fell to his knees beside him. “Bobby, get out of the way. Stand the fuck back up, you bitch. I'm not doing with you yet!”

“Sebastian.” He heard John's voice in his ear, frowning when he felt fingers wrap tightly around his elbows and pulls his arms back. “Sebastian, stop.”

Sebastian glanced behind him as John pulled him against his chest, shaking his head. “John, fucking let go of me.”

“No,” John said, letting go of his elbows to wrap his arms around Sebastian's chest, pinning his arms at his side. “Baby, is he alright?”

“I think so.” Bobby was staring at Erik with wide eyes, trying to figure out what to do about the blood that was slowly trickling from Erik's nose. “Erik, you're bleeding,” he whispered, reaching towards him before quickly pulling his hand back. “I don't...”

Erik sighed and pushed himself up, glancing at the people staring down at them. “We've got to get...you can't...no one can...there's too many people around...I can't believe Sebastian fucking punched me.”

“You deserve a hell of a lot more than one motherfucking punch!” Sebastian called out, struggling against John as he tried to pull loose. “Fucking hell, John, let go of me!”

“Sebastian, shut the fuck up!” Bobby said, glaring at him. “Johnny, drag his ass backstage or something, will you? And what the fuck are all you queens looking at?”

The crowd started to disperse as John tried to haul Sebastian away, Sebastian fighting his every step. “I am not going motherfucking anywhere until I am finished with him!”

“SEBASTIAN!” Bobby yelled out, standing up. “Go backstage. NOW.”

Sebastian stared at him for a moment before nodding, not fighting John when he started to pull them towards the stage. “He hurt Charles so much, Johnny,” he mumbled, the adrenaline starting to fade away. “He deserved it.”

“I know he hurt Charles,” John said, pushing the door to the backstage area open. “But is hurting him in return really going to solve anything?”

Sebastian shrugged. “Makes me feel better.”

John rolled his eyes as he shoved Sebastian into the dressing room. “Fucking hell, Sebastian, does everything have to be about you?”

“You don't understand how much it hurts to see Charles like that!” Sebastian exclaimed, kicking at the sofa. “I was doing it to help Charles.”

John shoved him, watching with angry eyes as Sebastian fell backward onto the sofa. “I don't care how much that hurt! How on earth could you possibly think that hitting him was going to help Charles? All it's done is make things worse!”

Sebastian frowned. “It has not.”

“You think that Charles is going to be happy you punched the man that he's most attached to? I guarantee you that he fucking won't be.” John grabbed a towel off the shelf and tossed it at Sebastian. “You better get yourself cleaned up before they get in here unless you want to bleed all over those clothes.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “No one is going to hit me.”

“Why the fuck not?” John said, dropping down onto the sofa. “Sebastian, I can't believe you fucking did that.”

“I had to do something,” Sebastian mumbled. “It was the first thing that came to mind.”

They looked up when the door banged open, Bobby marching in while Erik came in behind him. “You are motherfucking lucky I don't kill you right now, Sebastian.”

“How can anyone possibly be standing up for him?” Sebastian stood up and got in Bobby's face. “What did you do, forget everything that had happened the moment he showed back up? What did he do, drop to his knees and blow you like the good little whore that he is?”

Bobby reached out and slapped Sebastian hard across the face. “I understand that you're angry but don't you ever, ever fucking talk about him like that again. You know we're not supposed to use that word around here. Charles would kill you if he heard you right now.”

Sebastian blinked rapidly, his hand coming up to cover his cheek. “But he hurt Charles.”

“Yes, he did, but that is something for Erik and Charles to work out, not you,” Bobby said firmly, glancing back at Erik. “And there are reasons for what happened that you know absolutely nothing about. If Charles can forgive him, and he did, then that should be enough for the rest of us.”

“Well then maybe someone should clue the rest of us in on those fucking reasons!” Sebastian exclaimed, turning his gaze towards Erik. “You want us to forgive you so fucking badly then give me one good motherfucking reason why I shouldn't have hit you.”

Erik noticed a trace of red on Sebastian's hand and shook his head gently, grimacing when he felt a flash of pain through his nose. “You need to wash the blood off your hand, Sebastian. Now.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? That's not a fucking reason!”

Erik swallowed hard. “I will tell you as soon as as you have washed the blood off your hand.”

“What fucking difference does it make if there is blood on my hand or not?”

“BECAUSE I'M MOTHERFUCKING POSITIVE!” Erik yelled out, slumping back against the wall as soon as the words had left his lips. “Go wash your fucking hand.”

Sebastian stared at him, jaw dropped. “What?”

John's eyes suddenly widened and he reached for the towel he'd tossed towards Sebastian earlier, standing up and pulling Sebastian towards the sink. “Come on, we've got to get this blood off of you.”

“You're...positive?” Sebastian stared at Erik as John shoved his hand under the running water, scrubbing at his skin with the corner of a the towel.

“The hospital told me and I fucking freaked,” Erik said softly, leaning against Bobby when he rested up against the wall next to him. “That's why I left, okay? I had to get my fucking head together.”

John turned the water off and wrapped an arm around Sebastian's shoulders, pulling him close. “It's got to be wrong,” Sebastian said as he leaned into John's side. “It's got to be.”

“It's not wrong, Sebastian,” Erik said, pushing away from the wall and walking over to them. “Trust me, no one wishes it was wrong more than me, but it's not wrong.”

Sebastian reached out and grabbed onto Erik's arm when he was close enough. “Were you ever going to tell us?”

“I don't know,” Erik said, giving them a soft smile. “It's, um, I don't really know how to talk about it yet. I had a hell of a time telling Charles.”

“You're not sick at the moment though, right?” John asked, flashing Erik a concerned look. “I mean, you've been taking care of yourself and stuff?”

Erik sighed and reached for the towel, looking towards the mirror and wiping the blood off his face. “No, I'm not sick, but I haven't been taking very good care of myself either. That's going to change now that I'm home.”

“Erik,” Sebastian said softly. “I don't know what to say.”

Erik shrugged. “What is there to say? I don't want people's sympathy or their pity. It was my mistake and these are my consequences.”

Bobby coughed from behind them. “You could apologize for hitting him, Sebastian.”

“No!” Sebastian called out, shaking his head vehemently. “I'm not sorry for that. He hurt Charles too much.”

“It's alright,” Erik said, staring at the towel for a moment before tossing it into the trash. “Sebastian doesn't have to apologize.”

“Yes, he does,” Bobby argued.

Erik shook his head. “I deserved it. I wish you hadn't done it in the middle of the dance floor,” he said, turning his gaze back to Sebastian. “But I can understand why you did.”

Sebastian squirmed out of John's embrace and threw himself at Erik, hugging him close and burying his face in his neck. “Oh, Erik.”

Erik closed his arms around Sebastian's back and sighed. “I missed you, kid. I'm glad you took good care of Charles while I was gone.”

“I had to,” Sebastian mumbled, closing his eyes. “And I'm glad you're back now. Charles will be happier.”

Erik sighed and looked at John, seeing the concern in his eyes. “I think everyone will be happier. I also think I probably need to go to an emergency room because I'm pretty sure you broke my nose.”

“I can take you,” John said, looking over at Bobby. “You've got to get back to work, baby.”

“Yeah, I do,” Bobby said, jumping when the door opened and Janos and Azazel came strolling in. 

“Erik, Vanessa is paging you like crazy right now,” Janos said, pulling his shirt over his head. 

“Yeah, and can you all like get out?” Azazel added. “Janos and I need some personal time.”

John rolled his eyes as Erik let go of Sebastian. “You two are not fucking in here again.”

“It's alright,” Erik said, walking towards the door. “They can do what they want.”

“What?” John said, but Erik just shook his head.

“Let them fuck, John. I've got to take care of something and then we can go to the emergency room, okay?” Erik said as he walked out of the room, pausing in the hallway to take as deep of a breath as he could before he started walking again. “I need to go find Scott.”


	13. Chapter 13

Scott took one look at Erik and shook his head. “Who hit you?”

“Sebastian,” Erik said, looking in the mirror behind the bar and noticing that the bruising had already begun. “John's going to take me to the emergency room in a bit because I think he broke my nose.”

“Well, from looking at you, I would agree with that assessment,” Scott said, leaning up against the bar again. “Hey, Jubes, get me a soda will you? I'm about to take my break.”

“Don't do that,” Erik said, stopping Jubilee in her tracks. “Scott can get one upstairs because that's where he's going.”

“What?” Scott asked, but Erik just started walking away.

“You're coming upstairs with me!” he called back. “Now!”

Scott looked at Jubilee, who just shrugged. “Guess I'm going upstairs then. You okay to handle things for a few?”

“Yeah, sure,” Jubilee said, looking at the line before sighing. “It'll move slowly but I'll get through it.”

“I'll make sure you get a bit of a bonus for this,” Scott said before ducking out from underneath the bar and heading in the direction Erik had gone.

Erik was waiting for him at the base of the stairs that led up to the club, and as soon as the door into the club was shut, he reached out and put his hand on Scott's shoulder. “I need you to trust me, okay?”

“Erik, what the fuck is this about? I need to be behind the bar helping Jubes out. We're about to get another rush.”

“I'll deal with that,” Erik said, smiling at him. “I just need you to trust me.”

Scott stared at him for a moment before nodding. “Of course, I trust you,” he said. “Why wouldn't I?”

“Well, after the last nine months, I wasn't sure you would,” Erik said, squeezing his shoulder. “Come on. We're going up into Hank's office.”

“Can this seriously not wait until tomorrow?” Scott asked as Erik started walking up the stairs. 

“It cannot wait until tomorrow, I promise,” Erik said, so Scott started walking up the stairs behind him.

They headed in the direction of Hank's office and found Jean waiting outside of it, and she frowned when Erik approached her. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Sebastian,” Erik said dismissively. “Is he ready?”

“Is who ready?” Scott asked as he came up behind him.

“He's ready,” Jean said, holding out her hand. “Scott, come here.”

“Then I'm going to leave you two to this and head to an emergency room,” Erik said, smiling at them. “If necessary, move this up to the apartment. Hank has a key.”

Jean nodded as Erik walked away, leaving Scott more confused than ever. She turned to him and held out her hand again. “Come here.”

Scott slowly walked over to her and let her take his hand. “What is going on?”

“Do you remember the promise I made to you a very long time ago?” Jean started. “Then one when I promised you that I would tell you the moment I found out anything about Alex?”

“Yes,” Scott asked, still confused. “Why?”

“Because I broke it,” Jean said, taking a deep breath. “I've known about this for nine months and I wanted to tell you so desperately, but Ororo said that it needed to happen naturally. It just hasn't happened until now.”

Scott stared at her for a moment. “What?”

Jean took another deep breath. “The day that I took Charles to Ororo's office, the day he met her for the first time, there were two others in the waiting room when we got there. One was Darwin, and I stared at the other for a while trying to place him because he looked so familiar to me. And then Charles said his name and everything clicked into place.”

Scott blinked a few times. “What?” His voice was growing increasingly hoarse every time he spoke, because Jean could not possibly be saying what he thought she was saying.

“The Alex that you've been hearing about, the Alex that Charles and Darwin know,” Jean said softly. “It's your brother, Scott.”

Scott felt like he could barely breathe, and Jean squeezed his hand while she watched the emotions cross his face. “It's him?” he finally got out, and Jean smiled at him.

“Yes, it's him,” Jean said, and Scott took in a shuddering breath. 

“Do you know where he is?” Scott got out. “Because Darwin has been saying he's afraid that Alex was going to run on him.”

“He didn't run on him,” Jean said, squeezing his hand again. “In fact, he came in here with Darwin today.”

“And I missed him because Erik had me in the office all afternoon,” Scott groaned. “Fuck.”

“You didn't miss him,” Jean said, taking another deep breath and squeezing his hand. “He's in Hank's office right now.”

Scott swallowed hard as he processed that, taking a couple of deep breaths himself. “He's in Hank's office right now.”

“Yes,” Jean said. “And he's waiting for you. I told him that you were here and I said I would go get you. I had Erik in on it because it was easier for him to get you to come up here at the right moment than it would be for me to.”

“Erik knows he's here?”

“Yes, I told Erik earlier,” Jean said, smiling at him. “Are you ready to go in there and see your brother?”

Scott shook his head, trying to wake himself up from this nightmare he must be having. “I'm dreaming. Wake me up already.”

“You're not dreaming, I promise,” Jean stressed. “I wouldn't do this to you, not even in your dreams, if it wasn't true.”

Scott closed his eyes. “I need a few minutes,” he finally said. “I need to process this a bit before I see him.”

“Then we'll wait a few minutes,” Jean said, peering at him with some concern. “Do you want to go into your office?”

Scott nodded and opened his eyes. “Yes.”

“Then let's go to your office,” Jean said, walking towards it and pulling Scott along. “Is there anything else you need?”

“I need a drink,” Scott said as he fumbled with the keys. “A nice, large glass of whiskey.”

“I'm not getting you that and you know it,” Jean said, taking the keys from Scott's hand. “Which one is it?”

Scott pointed to the right one and Jean got the door unlocked, leading him into the room and flipping the lights on. Scott headed straight towards the sofa and collapsed down onto it, putting his head in his hands. “Well, if you're not going to let me have that, can you at least go get me some water or soda or something to drink? My throat feels so dry right now.”

Jean bent down and pressed a kiss to his head. “I'll be right back with something. You stay here. I don't want you going into that room alone.”

“Jean,” Scott called out when she was about to walk out the door. “You're really being serious about this?”

“I'm really being serious about this, I promise,” Jean said, smiling at him. “I'll be right back with that water, okay?”

Scott nodded and Jean shut the door behind her, laying down onto the sofa and putting his hands over his face. If the Alex that he'd been told all about over the last nine months really was his Alex, then that meant Alex had been through the hell that Charles and Darwin had, and he really didn't know how to process that. All he knew was that his brother must be incredibly fucked up and he was going to help fix that. 

He had to.

**********

Darwin threw his apron on the counter and sighed heavily, looking over at Peter. “Fuck, dinner was packed tonight.”

“Don't complain about that because it's a good thing,” Peter said, tossing his apron onto the counter as well. “I made enough tips to finally be able to buy those new trainers I was telling you about.”

“I can't believe you're about to spend that amount of money on a pair of shoes,” Darwin said, shaking his head. “That money would buy me and Alex groceries for a month.”

“Well, I am lucky in that I don't have to worry about things like groceries and can therefore buy myself things like those trainers,” Peter said, grinning at him. “They're going to look so unbelievably sick. Like, so, so cool.”

Darwin just rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I need to go get Alex and get us home. I'm still amazed that I actually got him to come here today.”

“That's really good though. Means there's been some progress, right?” Peter said, looking up when Jean walked into the room. “Hey, Jean. I didn't know you were still here.”

“Hi, Peter,” she said, walking over to them. “Darwin, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Sure,” Darwin said, following her into the kitchen. “Can you make it kind of fast? I need to get Alex and get home.”

“Alex needs to stay here for a little while,” Jean said, smiling at him. “A big event is happening today and he's going to need all the support he can get.”

“What are you talking about?” Darwin asked, confused.

“I have known about this for a very long time, but Ororo said that it needed to happen naturally,” Jean started. “But Alex is Scott's younger brother.”

Darwin's jaw dropped. “What?”

“He's Scott's younger brother,” Jean repeated. “And Alex has been told that Scott is here, and Scott has been told that Alex is here, but they haven't seen each other yet. Since the dinner shift is over now, I thought I'd come get you and bring you into Hank's office so you can be there for him while this is going on. It's going to be very emotional for the both of them.”

Darwin stood there as that sunk in. “You're being serious.”

“I'm very serious about this,” Jean said, walking further into the kitchen. “I need to get Scott some water, but you go on into Hank's office, okay? Alex is in there with Hank. Let him know that Scott will be there soon.”

Darwin nodded and made his way back out into the dining room, and Peter peered at him with some concern. “You alright, Darwin? You look terrible.”

“Alex is Scott's brother,” he said without thinking, looking up at Peter. “The brother that I've heard so much about for so many years has been right here beside me this whole time and I didn't even put two and two together and realize it. They could have been reunited months ago.”

“Hey, hey,” Peter said, walking over to him and putting a hand on Darwin's shoulder. “There is no way that you could have known that it was Scott. Scott is like a super common name.”

“But Summers. His last name is fucking Summers,” Darwin murmured. “I should have known. I should have. This could have helped Alex months ago.”

“Darwin,” Peter said, “you need to stop thinking about what could have been and focus on now. Alex is going to need you now, not have you worrying about something that you cannot change. What happened has happened. Focus on the now.”

“You're right,” Darwin said after a moment. “I know you're right. But I just...”

“No buts,” Peter said, squeezing his shoulder. “What did Jean tell you to do?”

“Go in Hank's office and help Alex get through this.”

“Then go in Hank's office and help Alex get through this,” Peter said, pulling Darwin towards the offices. “Alex needs you to do that.”

Darwin nodded as they reached the right hallway, walking down it to the right office before looking back at Peter. “Thanks, Peter.”

“Don't thank me, I didn't do anything,” Peter said, turning and walking towards the stairs up to the apartment. “I'll show you the trainers as soon as I get them! I think you're really going to like them!”

“They're still too expensive!” Darwin called back, turning to face Hank's office's door before taking a deep breath. 

Alex needed him. That was what he had to focus on.

But it would be a while before he got over the fact that he could have helped facilitate this reunion a lot sooner. He knew how much finding his brother meant to Alex. He knew how disappointed that Alex had been when he couldn't find references to Station Thirty anywhere. He should have asked the history of Genosha a long time ago, should have learned that it used to be Station Thirty and put two and two together. 

Darwin shook his head to break himself of those thoughts. Peter was right. Focus on the now, and the now was that Alex needed him.

He took another deep breath and opened the office door. He was going to be the best boyfriend in the history of the world right now because that's what Alex needed him to be.

**********

The door to the dressing room banged open and Sebastian barely had time to look up before Charles had hit him hard. He blinked as the world spun for a moment before turning his gaze back to Charles, swallowing hard when he saw the fire in his eyes. “Hello, darling?” he tried, and that just made Charles hit him again.

“What the fuck did you do?” Charles seethed. “Because Erik told me that you punched him and if that is true then we are so completely done. Completely.”

Sebastian swallowed hard again. “I, um, well, I...”

“Oh, he punched him alright,” came Janos's voice, and Charles looked over to see him and Azazel tangled together on the sofa, naked. “Right in the middle of the dance floor after the show. Caused quite the stir.”

“Do you two ever do anything besides dance and fuck?” Charles asked, shaking his head before turning back to Sebastian. “You motherfucking punched him?”

“It was the first thing that came to mind!” Sebastian said in defense. “I had to do something! He hurt you too much!”

“What he did is between me and him,” Charles said sharply. “And I forgave him for it the second I saw him and heard what was going on. I've been told that you now know about that. Apparently, you don't care.”

“I do too!” Sebastian said, standing up. “You have no idea what Erik means to me!”

“No, I don't!” Charles yelled. “All I have ever heard you do is bitch about him! You have never once said a good thing about Erik to me, Sebastian!”

Sebastian sighed heavily. “I was a pet project, okay?” he whispered, not wanting Janos and Azazel to hear. “I am just so far removed from that place in my life that I don't like to talk about it, and so I don't want anyone who doesn't know to know. There. That's what Erik means to me.”

Charles's eyes widened. “What?”

“I'll tell you the story some other time when they aren't hear to overhear it,” Sebastian said softly. “That is, if you're not completely done with me.”

Charles just shook his head. “You are staying far away from me for a very long time. When I am ready to speak to you again, you will know it.”

Charles turned around and walked out of the dressing room without giving Sebastian a chance to respond, slamming the door behind him for good measure. He headed back out into the club and over to the bar, shaking his head when he saw how overwhelmed Jubilee was. “Where's Scott?”

“Erik needed him for something upstairs. He's been gone for way too long though. I'm dying back here,” Jubilee said, finishing up a drink and sliding it across the bar. “If you could round me up some help, I'll be eternally grateful.”

“Give me a few,” Charles said, pushing away from the bar and looking around the club.

He spotted them in a dark corner on the other side and headed straight in their direction, smiling at Kitty as he came up to the table. “KitKat, I understand I have you to thank for having Erik back here.”

“I don't need thanked,” Kitty said, standing up and walking over to him. “I just did what any of us would have done.”

“Well, I'm thanking you regardless,” Charles said, pulling her into a hug. “Listen, I need your help with something. Can you come with me for a while?”

Kitty looked back at the table and Marie just grinned at her. “Go on, babe. We're good here.”

“Then I'll be back soon, okay?” Kitty linked her arm through Charles's and smiled. “Lead on.”

“So, here's the deal, okay?” Charles said as they began to walk. “Erik took Scott upstairs for something important and he hasn't come back down here, and Jubes is absolutely swamped. So, can you please, please, please do me a favor and go behind the bar and help for a little while?”

Kitty stopped walking and Charles turned to her, making her sigh. “I'm not working tonight, Charles.”

“I will make sure that Erik gives you an unbelievably large bonus for everything you just did for him, including this,” Charles said, unsure of whether he could actually make that happen or not. “Please, Kitty. I wouldn't be asking if Jubilee hadn't looked so overwhelmed.”

Kitty stared at him for a moment before sighing heavily. “That bonus better be nearing four figures then,” she said as she started walking again. “Dropping everything and going to Los Angeles isn't cheap, even with Marie's job.”

“I'll do what I can, baby,” Charles said, leading her to the bar. “Jubes! Got you some help!”

“Thanks, Charles!” Jubilee called out without looking over at them. “Hiya, sexy. What can I get you?”

Kitty took a moment to survey the scene before ducking underneath the bar and grinning at the first person she saw. “Hiya, baby. What can I get you?”

Jubilee looked over at the sound of Kitty's voice and grinned triumphantly. “I knew that this little vacation of yours was going to end spectacularly for me.”

“Shut the fuck up and work, Jubes, or I'm leaving you alone again,” Kitty said as she reached for some vodka. “And I mean that.”

“Fine, fine.”


	14. Chapter 14

Jean squeezed Scott's hand as they approached the door to Hank's office, making him look over at her. “This is all going to be okay, I promise.”

“I just,” Scott got out before pausing. “I just can't believe this is real.”

“It is,” Jean said softly. “I promise.”

Scott nodded and stopped in front of the door, taking a couple of deep breaths. “He's really in there.”

“He's really in there,” Jean confirmed. “Are you ready?”

Scott took a moment before nodding again, and then Jean knocked on the door a couple of times. It was a few moments before Hank said they could come in, and then Jean slowly opened the door. Scott took a couple of steps into the office before his gaze landed on Alex, and his eyes welled up with tears. Alex's hair was longer, he was a whole lot skinnier, and he looked like the drug addict he probably was. But it was him. It really was him.

“Alex,” he said as the tears started to stream down his cheeks. “Oh God, Alex.”

“Scotty,” Alex said as he stood up, and then they were both taking steps forward. “It's you. It's really you.”

“It's really you,” Scott countered back, staring at him for a moment before reaching out and pulling Alex into a tight embrace. “I thought I'd never see you again.”

“I thought I'd never see you again too,” Alex said, and then they both started crying harder. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too,” Scott sobbed. “So, so much.”

Jean moved around them to stand next to Hank, and Hank wrapped a comforting arm around her waist. They stood there and watched the brothers sob in each other's arms, and all either of them could think about was how glad they were that this reunion was finally happening. They knew how much it meant to Scott, and they were pretty sure that it meant just as much to Alex.

Darwin was sitting on the sofa and he had tears running down his cheeks as well, knowing how much Alex had dreamed of this moment. He'd heard about his brother from the moment that Alex became under Cain's control and Darwin had tried to show him the way, heard about how much his brother must be wondering where he was, how much it hurt him to know how much Alex missing was going to hurt his brother. Scott meant everything to Alex, memories of him something to cling onto during the torturous years he spent doing Cain's bidding, and now Scott was there holding Alex in his arms. Darwin couldn't help but cry tears of joy for him. 

“You're real,” Alex murmured after a few minutes. 

“I'm real and so are you,” Scott replied. 

“I searched for you so much after we got away and I just couldn't find where you used to work. I didn't even know if you would still work there. And then when Jean said earlier that you were here, I didn't really believe it, you know? Not until I saw you.”

“I searched for you for years. I never gave up hope, no matter how much I tried to at times. I nearly destroyed myself because I was in so much pain over the fact that you were gone. But now you're here. You're really here in my arms. And that's all that matters at the moment.”

“I hate myself,” Alex sobbed. “I hate what I've become.”

“Shh,” Scott soothed. “You didn't want to do it. I know you didn't want to do it. And I'm going to help you get back to the way you were before. Or, well, as much as you can. I know that things are forever changed. But I'm going to help you get through this, Alex. I promise.”

“I love you, Scotty,” Alex said, resting his head on Scott's shoulder. “I love you so much. I missed you so much.”

“I love you too, Alex. I missed you more than I can even express.” Scott turned and brushed a kiss along Alex's temple, hugging him closer. “Mom and Dad are going to be so happy to hear that you're alive. They are convinced that you're dead.”

“I,” Alex paused to sob, “I don't know if I can ever face them again.”

“We'll work on that then because I know the second I tell them that I've found you, they're going to be on a plane here from Alaska.”

Alex sobbed harder. “I can't tell them that I'm a whore now. I just can't.”

“You're not a whore,” Scott said firmly. “You were forced into doing something and you did it to survive. But you're not a whore, Alex. You're really not.”

“But I am,” Alex cried. “I'm a whore and I'm an addict and I'm a drunk. I'm so fucked up, Scotty. So unbelievably fucked up.”

“Shh,” Scott murmured. “We're going to help you, okay? Not just me but all of us. We're going to help you the way we've helped Darwin. The way we've helped Charles. I promise you, I will do whatever is necessary to help you. Anything.”

The door to the office opened then, Bobby sticking his head inside and immediately becoming confused. “Um, what's going on?”

“Bobby,” Hank said, walking over to the door and shoving him outside, closing the door behind them. “What do you need?”

“I need Scott back behind the bar,” Bobby said seriously. “Kitty is complaining heavily about the fact that she's working on a night she has off and I need my bartender back.”

“That's not going to happen,” Hank said, glancing back at the office. “We found Alex.”

Bobby's eyes widened. “What?”

“The Alex that Charles and Darwin are always talking about is Scott's brother. He came in here with Darwin today and we just reunited the two of them. There is no way Scott's going to be going back to work now.”

Bobby stood there for a moment before nodding. “This is clearly more important than Kitty having to work tonight. I'll make her understand.”

“I'm sure that she will,” Hank said. “Just explain the situation to her.”

“I'm going to,” Bobby said, looking at the office door. “It's really him? We've really found him?”

“It's really him,” Hank confirmed. “It's very emotional in there right now.”

“I can only imagine,” Bobby said, turning around and walking away. “Come find me before you leave for the night. I want to hear more about this.”

“I will, I promise,” Hank said, going back into the office. “Does anyone want anything from the kitchen? I think I'm going to get myself a drink.”

“A drink would be nice,” Alex said, pulling back from Scott for a moment. “Thank you, Hank. For everything.”

Hank just smiled at him as Alex went back into Scott's arms. “You are more than welcome. I'll be right back.”

Hank closed the door again and took a deep breath before heading in the direction of the kitchen.

They'd really found him. Now maybe Scott would finally feel whole again.

**********

Erik glanced at his reflection in the mirror before closing the sun shade and settling back into the seat. “I can't believe Sebastian fucking punched me.”

John climbed into the driver's seat and shut the door. “I can.”

“He's forgotten everything that I've done for him, I think,” Erik said, reaching for the seat belt and buckling himself in. “He was a whiny bitch to me before I left and I suspect this won't have helped anything.”

“I highly doubt that he's forgotten it,” John said, starting the car. “You saved him from the streets. But I know for a fact that he cares far more for Charles that he has admitted to anyone. Seeing Charles the way he was while you were gone really hurt him.”

Erik sighed heavily as John backed out of the parking space. “It was that bad?”

“You know how he was before you left? Magnify that by about twenty. I don't think I've seen him sober in the last nine months,” John said. “But at the same time, Charles is also a lot better than he was. He's willing to leave Genosha now, he has a lot easier of a time talking to strangers, he's opened up a lot more about his past and what happened to him, both before Cain and after. We've actually gotten to know him instead of just knowing about him. And he's great, Erik. He really is. But that's only going to make this situation with Sebastian worse, I think.”

“I'm glad to hear that he's opened up more. But now that I'm back, I really need to convince him to go to rehab. If he's getting that drunk and that high all the time, then that's not a good thing.”

“No, it's not. But I think you'll find getting him to go to rehab to be extremely difficult. We've all been trying and he won't listen to any of us.”

“I think he'd listen to me more than any of you,” Erik murmured. “Especially if he has a thing for me like Hank was saying.”

“Oh, he definitely does,” John replied. “He might have been fooling around with Sebastian, but who he really wanted was you.”

“That's going to be interesting to deal with.”

“Because you have a thing for him too.”

Erik looked over at John in surprise. “What?”

“Erik, about the only one of us that you've shown any interest in since you got back today is Charles. All of your questions have either been about the business or Charles. You haven't asked a single one of us how we are. It's really pretty obvious.”

Erik slumped down in the seat. “I don't know what to do, John. I don't know how to repair that bridge enough to even begin to contemplate that. And I don't think he's ready for that anyway.”

“He's more ready than you think. This thing with Sebastian proves it,” John said as he brought the car to a stop at a red light. “If Charles wanted sex, there is a whole club full of people every night that he could have gotten it from. But he stayed with Sebastian. I think the fact that he was with one person all the time probably made him more comfortable than multiple partners would have. That tells me that a relationship is something that would probably be good for Charles.”

“Multiple partners would probably have made him feel like a whore again,” Erik said after a moment. “So you're probably right about him needing one long-term partner.”

“And I see no reason why that can't be you. I'm not saying jump right into it because there's probably a lot you two still need to work out about you being gone for so long, but I'm saying that you shouldn't just think that it's not possible.”

Erik reached up and ran his hands over his face, grimacing when that put pressure on his nose. “Fuck. Alright, I'll think about it. Now talk to me about something else.”

John shook his head but changed the subject. “Bobby thinks I'm cheating on him, I think.”

Erik's head whipped around to stare at John. “What?”

“I'm not,” John stressed. “But he's starting to act like there's something going on while I'm out doing the parties, and he is acting weird when I come home and all I want to do is sleep. He's been implying it for weeks but he won't say it to my face. I keep trying to tell him that nothing is going on but he's not believing me.”

“And he's got it in his head that this is a possibility because of your past,” Erik finished. “He has reason to doubt you because of it.”

“Exactly,” John said, sighing. “He said he hears things from the boys about what I'm up to, but I'm not up to anything so I have no idea what tales they're feeding him. If I knew who it was he's been talking to, I'd fire their asses for trying to ruin my marriage.”

“Is there anything that he might be hearing from these dancers that he doesn't know about that is actually true?” Erik asked, causing John to sigh again.

“Maybe.”

“Are you going to tell me what that is?”

John was silent for a few blocks. “I've been taking some pills to help get me through the nights.”

Erik's gaze narrowed. “Pills?”

“It's all legal,” John said defensively. “I'm not turning into a drug addict.”

“What kind of pills are we talking about then?”

“I don't have to answer that.”

“If you want me to help resolve this tension between you two then yes, you do.”

John was silent for a few blocks again. “They're caffeine pills, alright? And don't try telling me to stop because I fucking need them.”

“Caffeine pills? Do you even realize how addictive those can be?” Erik asked, shaking his head. “You're stopping those now.”

“Fuck off.”

“I'm serious, John. The last thing anyone needs is you getting addicted to caffeine pills. How fucking long have you been taking them?”

“About six months,” John murmured. “And I fucking need them so I'm not stopping them.”

Erik shook his head again. “You're addicted to them already, aren't you?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“You're going to rehab.”

“I don't need fucking rehab.”

“The fuck you don't,” Erik countered back. “You want to be a good husband or not?”

“Of course!”

“Then you're fucking telling Bobby about this and getting your ass to fucking rehab or I'm telling him myself.”

“I never should have told you about this.”

“No, you really should have,” Erik said. “Caffeine pills, John? Really?”

“Do you even realize how fucking long these shows are taking now? I've got to be an accountant and a lawyer and all kinds of fucking things during the day now. I'm left with like two hours in which to sleep every night, so I need something that keeps me awake.”

“You should be talking to Jean if you need a lawyer,” Erik pointed out. “I'll give you the name of my accountant. Get some fucking sleep instead of taking those fucking pills.”

John was silent for a moment before he spoke again. “The shows are starting to lose money.”

“What?”

“The boys want to be paid more. The club owners want more of the gate. Insurance costs are rising. The choreographer is getting more expensive. I'm losing money now, and Bobby and I only have so much to fall back on, and so I'm spending all day trying to figure out how to get the shows to start making money again instead of sleeping like I should. I've been trying to book more shows, but there's only so many gay clubs in this town that want to work with us because there are other party promotions like the one I run, and I just...I don't know what to do, Erik.”

“Have you talked to Bobby about this?”

“No.”

Erik sighed heavily. “Why the fuck do you two suck at communicating so much?”

“I just don't know how to explain this to him. I don't know how to make him see that I'm not breaking my vows, I'm trying to make sure we still have some money. And this is why I need the fucking pills, Erik. I need to be awake to figure this shit the fuck out.”

Erik sat there for a bit while John drove, an idea formulating in his head. “What if you made the party exclusive to Genosha?”

“Huh?”

“What if I pay you to make the party exclusive to Genosha?” Erik said. “I'll pay you more than enough so that you're actually making money on it, it'll bring more people to the club because I know there are people who go watch your shows at other clubs that would probably come to Genosha just to see them, and it would be a situation that would be beneficial to both of us. I'm not saying there would need to be a party every night, but maybe every Saturday night. A different show every week, but they'd be monthly shows so there's be one of each every month. Something like that.”

“You'd really want to do that for me?” John asked. “Because you don't have to do that, Erik.”

“I will do whatever I need to do for anyone in this family,” Erik said seriously. “If that is what I need to do to help you and Bobby out of this mess that you're in, then that's what I'll do. You've got to promise me that you'll stop the fucking pills and get yourself cleaned up though. I will kill you if you keep taking that shit.”

“I've got shows booked through the end of November, but I would be able to take the shows exclusively to Genosha starting the first weekend in December,” John said after a minute. “Would that work for you?”

“Of course,” Erik said, looking over at him. “But I'm fucking serious about the pills.”

“I know you are,” John murmured. “And it's not like I want to be taking them. I just have felt like I don't have a choice.”

“There's always a choice,” Erik said, shaking his head. “When you two get home tonight, straighten this the fuck out. I don't want Bobby walking around thinking you're cheating on him anymore.”

“Neither do I,” John said, sighing. “I just don't know if he'll actually listen or not. He hasn't really wanted to listen to anything I have to say lately.”

“If you can't make him listen to you tonight, tell me. I'll get him to.”

“Thank you, Erik. For all of this.”

Erik smiled and settled back in the seat. “I'll do anything for any of you. I just need to make sure everyone remembers that. Now tell me more about the new show, because the one that the boys performed tonight was one I'd never seen before.”


	15. Chapter 15

Erik looked up when his office door opened, the nerves he was experiencing increasing when he saw it was Bobby. “They ready?”

“Everyone is gathered in the restaurant,” Bobby replied, leaning against the doorframe. “There was an announcement over the sound system last night that the restaurant was going to be closed this morning, the doors are locked, and a sign is posted. Anything else you need me to do?”

Erik nodded and took a deep breath. “No, that's fine.”

Bobby watched Erik drop his head down to his desk, and he knew that he was trying to think of a way to get out of this. He just stood there, and when Erik lifted his head, he shook his head. “Bobby, I need a minute.”

“You've had months worth of minutes,” Bobby said, walking over to Erik and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Come on. You know what to say to them.”

“I do?”

Bobby sighed. “You know you do. You know how to tell them.”

Erik nodded and stood up as Bobby backed away, taking a deep breath before walking towards the door. Bobby fell into step behind him, smiling at him when Erik looked at him nervously. “Whatever happens, remember that we all love you.”

“You'll have to forgive me,” Erik said as he walked out of the hallway, “if I say I don't understand why.”

Bobby smiled as they walked to the door that led into the restaurant. “You've helped everyone in that room out of a horrible situation, Erik. Everyone loves you for that.”

“Maybe you're right,” Erik said, staring at the door in front of him. “I'm scared. I can take the biggest risks in the world and never blink, but to walk in there and do this? Terrified.”

Bobby pulled him into a hug, brushing a kiss along the side of his head when Erik put his head on his shoulder. “You'll be fine.”

Erik nodded shakily and broke the embrace, turning towards the door. He took a deep breath before pushing it open and walking into the restaurant. The room fell silent as he walked over to the counter, his hands shaking slighly as he hopped up onto it. “Hi, everyone.”

He heard a few murmured hellos in return before he continued. “So, I apparently owe everyone an explanation.”

“Damn right you do!” Sean called out.

“Sean, just let me talk, okay?” Erik responded, noticing Bobby move into the back of the room behind the gathered crowd. “I received some news at the hospital before I was discharged and I just...”

Erik paused and sucked in a deep breath, keeping his eyes trained on the floor. “I found out that I'm positive,” he choked out, finding it incredibly difficult to say the words. “And I had to leave for a while to figure out how to deal with it.”

A soft buzz would around the room as Erik twisted his fingers together. “I don't expect any of you to understand my reasons for leaving but I hope that you all can accept that I felt like I had no other choice. This is the last time I'm speaking about it to anyone, so that's just going to have to be good enough.”

“Erik,” Bobby said softly, and Erik looked up at him, reading the look on his face.

“There is one more thing,” Erik said, surveying the room with his eyes and noting the looks of concern. “I know that my way of handling things was not the best way, and I know that you are angry with me for it. I know that every one of you had to put up with a lot over the last nine months, and that some of you were not only doing your job but parts of mine and Charles's. And for all of that, I am truly sorry. I don't know how I can begin to make things up to you, but I will, I promise. I love you all so much, and I never should have doubted the love and support that I could have gotten from all of you. I'm sorry.”

Erik pushed himself off the counter and walked out of the room, leaving a stunned group behind him. Bobby looked around at everyone before walking to the counter where Erik had been sitting, hopping up onto the counter and smiling as best he could. “Anyone have any questions? Erik's talked to me about this a bit more than he said so I might be able to answer them.”

“I do,” Theresa said, pushing her way to the front of the group. “How on earth did he get infected? How long has he been infected? How much danger have the rest of us been in?”

Bobby sighed. “How he got infected is his business, not yours. He has no idea how long he's been infected and so therefore I cannot tell you how much danger you've been in. If you want a test to make sure you're clean, Erik said he'll pay for it.”

“Theresa,” Jubilee said, walking up to her and wrapping her arms around her. “It's okay, baby.”

“No, it's not,” Theresa said, burying her face in Jubilee's neck. “I can't lose my family.”

“You're not going to,” Jubilee said. “We're all your family and now we've got a serious illness in it. So as far as I'm concerned, we're going to do what every good family does and get behind Erik. Erik's fine right now, right Bobby?”

“He seems to be, yes,” Bobby said. “But he hasn't been taking care of himself and that ends now. I'm taking him to a clinic this morning so he can get on the right medications and learn more about what he needs to do to stay healthy.”

Silence fell over everyone for a few moments, and then Sean sighed heavily. “I know I can't speak for anyone else, but now that I know why Erik did what he did I'm not angry anymore. And we should do like a thing. Like an awareness thing.”

“I bet we could partner with one of the local clinics,” Hank said, looking over at Scott. “See about doing free testing or something. I know that everybody in this scene talks about being clean, but how many of them actually know for sure that they are?”

“That's a good idea,” Scott said. “Awareness is key. We're popular enough in the village. We could really get a good awareness drive going.”

Bobby smiled as everyone murmured in agreement. “I like this idea. I think it will help Erik a lot. He's still not handling this well.”

“Then I say everyone take a few days to think about it, and if you come up with any ideas, bring them to me, Scott, or Bobby,” Hank said, looking around as everyone nodded. 

“One more thing,” Bobby said. “All this talk of hitting him him is over. He will never cope with being back if he thinks that no one wants him here or that the only thing people want him here for is to hit him. I know that everyone was angry and that hitting him seemed like a good idea, but it's really not.”

“Yeah, you don't want to send him to the hospital again like Sebastian did,” Charles called out. “And I will fucking kill you if any of you hit Erik again.”

“I only did it because I didn't know what else to do!” Sebastian yelled back.

“I thought I said that I don't want to talk to you,” Charles said, shaking his head as he headed towards the back. “I'll be upstairs if anyone needs me.”

Bobby sighed heavily. “Okay, Charles.”

Once Charles had left the room, Bobby turned back everyone else. “I'm going to take Erik to breakfast and then the clinic, alright? You are on your own for the morning. The restaurant opens at noon.”

“We'll deal with it,” Hank said, heading towards the counter. “Sean, come over here and make us all breakfast. I'll get the coffee going. I think we all need a few minutes to take everything in.”

**********

“Sean, I am impressed,” Erik said, looking at the plate in front of him. “You've actually learned how to cook.”

Sean beamed at him and leaned up against the counter, watching as Erik picked up the cheeseburger. “It really wasn't all that hard once I finally got the hang of it. The key is paying attention.”

Erik laughed and bit into the cheeseburger, sighing happily as the flavors his his tongue. “Well, I am so glad that I'm going to be able to eat something other than an omelet everyone once and a while, let me tell you.”

“Oh, I know. Everybody's been saying that to me.”

Erik smiled and set the cheeseburger down. “I've never given you a raise, have I?

Sean's eyes widened and he stood up straight, shaking his head. “No, no. You haven't. But like, that's okay. I haven't been begging Hank for one or anything.”

Erik sighed and ran his hands over his face, grimacing when pain shot through his nose. “I am a horrible boss.”

“No, Erik! You're a great boss! Don't think otherwise, honey.”

“Well, you deserve a raise,” Erik said, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket and reaching for a pen. “I'll add that to the list of things I need to talk to Hank and Scott about.”

Sean shrieked and leaned across the counter, wrapping his arms around Erik. “Oh, Erik, thank you so much. Like seriously, this will help with me trying to find a new apartment so much.”

“Be sure you put me down as a reference,” Erik said, hugging him back. “You know I'll give you a good one.”

Sean nodded and pulled back. “I will, honey. Thank you.”

“Of course,” Erik said, turning and looking towards the door when he heard a voice. “Angel Salvadore?”

“Her and Emma are so cute, you have no idea,” Sean said, nodding when Erik turned back to him. “It's really great to see Emma like that.”

Erik shook his head. “Angel is trouble.”

“Was trouble,” Angel said, sitting down next to Erik and smiling. “I'm reformed now.”

“And what reformed you exactly?” Erik asked, turning to look at her. 

“A couple of wonderful women from the midwest,” Angel said, looking over at Sean. “Hey, can you make me something to go? I don't really care what it is.”

“Same thing as last time?” Sean asked.

“That sounds great, honey,” Angel said before turning back to Erik. “Anyway, I'm reformed now.”

“So if Emma is one of these women, who is the other?” Erik asked.

“Mors, of course,” Angel said, smiling when she spotted Moira across the room. 

“Mors?”

“Moira,” Angel clarified. 

Erik sat there for a moment before looking over at Angel. “The three of you?”

Angel shrugged. “We're figuring it out, but yeah, the three of us.”

“I don't want to see those two get hurt, Angel,” Erik said seriously. “And last time I checked, that was all you were capable of.”

“And as I said, I'm reformed,” Angel countered back. “The last thing I want to do is hurt either of them. I fucking swear.”

“I'm going to be furious with you if you do.”

“I know you will be,” Angel said, smiling when Moira walked over to them. “Mors! It's wonderful to see you, darling.”

Moira leaned down and gave Angel a soft kiss before smiling at her. “I'd stay and talk but we're too busy for that.”

“Of course, darling. We'll talk tonight at dinner.”

Moira just nodded and walked away, leaving Erik to shake his head. “I am fucking serious about you hurting them.”

“I know you are,” Angel said, grinning when Sean set a Styrofoam container on the counter in front of her. “Thank you so much, honey.”

“Same thing as last time,” Sean said, holding out his hand. “So I need some money.”

Angel reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet, searching through it for a moment before handing Sean a couple of bills. “Keep the change, alright?” She grabbed the container and stood up, smiling. “See you later, boys.”

Sean looked down at the bills as Angel walked out the door, his eyes widening. “Holy fuck.”

“Holy fuck what?”

“She gave me forty dollars,” Sean said, awe in his voice. “That only cost her eight.”

Erik just shook his head. “Trying to buy everyone's affection. That's Angel Salvadore for you.”

“You going to tell me your deal with her or not?” Sean asked as he put the right amount in the cash register and the rest in his pocket.

Erik sighed heavily. “No.”

“Oh, come on!”

“No, Sean,” Erik said firmly. 

“Fine,” Sean said, looking around the restaurant. “Where's Hank?”

“I gave him the day off,” Erik murmured, reaching for his cheeseburger again. “Why do you think I'm not asleep right now?”

“Well, that's just great,” Sean said, leaning against the counter. “I need to talk to him about the fact that we have nothing for children to do.”

Erik glanced around the restaurant and spotted a few children before turning back to Sean. “Is that really a problem?”

“More and more people are bringing their kids here,” Sean said, smiling at Erik. “Ever since I started to be able to cook more than omelets, our clientele seems to have expanded to more of the locals. It's not just queers anymore.”

“So you think we need something to entertain children,” Erik murmured.

“Just like some pictures printed up so they can color or something. I mean, we've got the kids' menu now and I just think it would be appropriate.”

Erik blinked. “Kids' menu?”

Sean shrieked and reached towards one of the menus, pulling out the paper insert. “Yup! And I can make all of it without burning it!”

Erik took the paper from him and looked it over. “I would certainly hope that you could make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without burning it.”

“Ha ha,” Sean said, snatching the paper back and sticking it in his place. “No one gets to tease me about my cooking anymore. It's no longer fair.”

“You're right,” Erik said, taking a bite of his cheeseburger and chewing it. “I'll keep that in mind when I decide your raise.”

Sean bounced up and down, clapping his hands. “You're really seriously going to give me one?”

“I'm really going to give you one,” Erik confirmed. “You work long hours and you've improved your cooking skills. It's only fair that you be rewarded for it. And you're not the only one who is going to get one.”

“Well, I'm sure that whoever else is getting one will love it too,” Sean said, smiling at him.

“Everyone is getting one,” Erik said. “You're just the only one who knows about it. They'll all find out when they get their paychecks next week.”

“Erik, they are going to love you for that.”

Erik smiled and took another bite of the cheeseburger, chewing it quickly. “That's sort of the plan. I'm trying to get back into everyone's good books.”

Sean leaned across the counter and pressed a kiss to Erik's forehead. “Stay healthy and keep everyone happy and you will be.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” Erik said, smiling at him. “I like the hair, by the way.”

Sean's hands flew up to his hair and he squealed. “It's amazing, isn't it? I decided I needed a little more color in my life.”

“Well, blue certainly fits that bill,” Erik said, yawning. “I wish I could go to sleep.”

“I think we can handle this on our own, Erik,” Sean said seriously. “I mean, that's what we've been doing for the last nine months.”

“You sure?”

“Of course, honey. I'll keep the noise down and you go get some rest.”

Erik nodded and stood up, throwing a couple of bills down on the table. “Your tip.”

Sean picked up the bills as Erik walked away, squealing when he saw Erik had left him another eighty dollars. “Thanks, Erik!”

“You're welcome, honey.”


	16. Chapter 16

Kitty groaned as the alarm went off, burying her head underneath her pillow. “Don't want to get up.”

Marie laughed from somewhere behind her and climbed onto the bed, placing teasing kisses all along Kitty's shoulder. “You have to, babe. You go back to work tonight.”

“I have enjoyed being off work so much. I can't even begin to tell you,” Kitty said, rolling onto her back and taking the pillow off her head. “I know I agreed to go back early because of what is going on with Scott, but I just...I got to spend so much time with you.”

“It's been amazing,” Marie agreed, “but you love your job too much to stay away for much longer. Besides, I think Jubilee would kill you.”

Kitty sighed and pulled Marie into a kiss, moaning softly as Marie's hand slid down her arm. “We can't have Jubes killng me, can we?”

“No, we most certainly cannot,” Marie said, laying down next to Kitty and putting her head on her shoulder. “I need you far too much for that.”

“Marie,” Kitty said suddenly, her voice serious. “I cannot thank you enough for taking me to Los Angeles.”

“It was nothing,” Marie said, turning to look at Kitty.

Kitty rolled over on top of her and kissed Marie hard. “No, it was a lot more than nothing. It was something major. I've never been with someone who would just drop everything and fly across the country with me.”

Marie threaded her fingers in Kitty's hair, gently stroking her head. “I'd drop everything for you.”

“I love you,” Kitty said softly, watching the emotions flicker across Marie's face. “It doesn't feel right to have never said that anymore.”

Marie pulled Kitty into another kiss, trying to put everything she was feeling into it. They broke apart slowly and Kitty settled into Marie's embrace, silently hoping that Marie would say it too. They laid in silence, Kitty growing increasingly upset with each passing second, before Marie sighed heavily and tightened her embrace. 

“I love you too, you silly girl,” Marie whispered, pressing a kiss to Kitty's forehead. “You're the first woman I've ever said that to.”

Kitty smiled softly, tilting her head so she could look Marie in the eyes. “You're the first one I've ever meant it with.”

Marie smiled back and brought her lips back to Kitty's, groaning as Kitty slipped her hands underneath her shirt. They kissed long and deep, and Kitty had just about forgotten about having to get up for work when suddenly a flash going off broke them apart.

“Oh, no, don't stop on my account,” Remy said, snapping another picture. “I've got a whole storyline developing in my head. Keep going.”

Kitty groaned and rolled off of Marie. “You didn't tell me that he was here.”

“I got distracted,” Marie said, climbing off the bed and walking towards Remy. “Stop taking pictures. Now.”

“But you two looked so hot like that!” Remy exclaimed, growling as Marie snatched the camera out of his hands. “Oh, come on. I won't show anyone!”

Marie flipped through the digital display until the picture came up, her thumb hovering over the delete button as she stared at it. “Oh, wow.”

“See!” Remy exclaimed. “You totally cannot delete that picture.”

Marie looked over at Kitty, taking in her disheveled looks before pressing down on the button and deleting it. “Yeah, I can,” she said, smiling at Kitty. “I don't need a photo when I've got the real thing.”

Remy rolled his eyes and grabbed the camera back, stalking off towards the living room. “Bella, Marie is completely boring now that she's monogamous! We have got to get her out more!”

Marie laughed and glanced over at the clock. “I'll go straighten him out. You should get in the shower.”

Kitty nodded and yawned. “In a minute.”

**********

“So I take it this is the thing that you were having such a hard time telling me about,” Sean asked, staring at where Angel was giving Moira a deep kiss. “Because they don't look like friends right now.”

Emma just sighed and reached up to adjust her tiara. “Yes. Sorta.”

“Which means what exactly?” Sean asked, tearing his eyes away from them and focusing them on Emma. “Because I thought you were super happy with Angel and now she's kissing Moira right in front of you and you seem to be okay with it.”

“Of course, I'm okay with it. Why wouldn't I be?” Emma groaned and pulled the tiara off her head, turning to look at her reflection in the stainless steel behind the grill. “I cannot get this fucking thing to stay right today.”

“Give it to me, sweetie. I'll put it on right,” Sean said, walking around the counter and taking it from her when Emma agreed. “But you've got to tell me what's going on. I am seriously confused right now.”

“What's going on is that I'm fucking Angel, Angel is fucking Moira, and I'm also fucking Moira,” Emma said, ducking her head down when Sean asked her to. “I never thought I'd end up in a relationship like this, but it's really, really working so far.”

“How long as this been going on?”

“For a while from an emotional perspective, though we weren't acknowledging that to be the case. But it's only been recently that the sex has come into it.”

“I imagine the sex is pretty good then.”

“Oh, honey, you have no idea,” Emma said, turning to look at her reflection when Sean was done. “Thank you, baby.”

“You're welcome, darling,” Sean said, smiling when Peter came behind the counter. “You got those trainers yet, kid?”

“I ordered them,” Peter said, grinning at him. “Just you wait, Sean. They're going to be amazing.”

Peter walked away when he saw one of his tables flagging him down, and Sean laughed, shaking his head. “I can't believe he's spent that much money on trainers. That's ridiculous.”

“You've spent more money on the heels on your feet right now, and you know it,” Emma said, pressing a kiss to Sean's shoulder before walking around the counter. “Excuse me, but I need to go see my girlfriends.”

Emma ignored Sean when he called out that she needed to get back to work, heading over to the table where Angel and Moira were sitting. “You guys didn't tell me you were coming here for dinner.”

“Angel suggested it,” Moira said. “She hadn't seen you all day and wanted to.”

Emma sat down next to Angel and gave her a soft kiss. “Well, it's very nice to see you then.”

“What time does your shift end, Ems?” Angel asked. “Because Moira and I have concocted a plan we think that you'll like.”

“Everything with you two is something that I like,” Emma said, smiling at her. “But I get off at close, which means I won't be home until about midnight.”

Angel sighed heavily. “I have to be at work at seven a.m. tomorrow for a very important conference call. So, our plans are just going to have to wait.”

Moira pouted. “I was really looking forward to that. And it'll be ages until we can do it now because I work the dinner shift for the next two weeks without a day off.”

Angel reached out and squeezed Moira's hand. “We'll make it work, darling. I promise.”

“Well, whenever we get the time, I'm down for whatever plan this is,” Emma said, reaching for her order book. “Now, what do you want to drink? And if you've already figured out what you want to eat, give me that too.”

Emma wrote down their orders before standing up, giving them each a kiss before heading to the kitchen. She dropped off the order and walked back out, finding Erik at the counter instead of Sean. “Where did Sean go?”

“I made him go home,” Erik said, twirling his cup of coffee around. “He's been here since four o'clock this morning. It was fucking time for him to go home.”

“Four? Why was he here so early?”

“He came in to help set up since Scott wasn't here.”

Emma nodded, understanding what Erik meant. “Has he been to work since the reunion?”

“He came that first day, but I told him to get his ass home and deal with his brother. I can do what he should be doing,” Erik said, taking a sip of his coffee. “Him being with Alex is far more important at the moment than me having to work a little harder.”

“From what Darwin has always said about him, Alex sounds like he's a mess.”

“He is,” Erik said. “He called himself an addict and a drunk, and he said that he still thinks he's a whore. I think it'll be a while before Alex is back to whatever part of his former self that he can find.”

“We just have to be patient with him,” Emma said, taking the coffee pot and refilling Erik's cup when she noticed it was half full. “We've been patient with Darwin, and we've had to be super patient with Charles, but we've all learned to be patient. That's been very helpful.”

“I'm glad that they had you all while I was gone,” Erik murmured. “They should have had me too.”

“Hey, you freaked and you ran. I totally understand that. I freaked out when I started thinking about getting into the drugs so I could see what the appeal was to Morrie, and so I ran to New York and started over,” Emma said, smiling at him when Erik looked up. “I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't given me a job. I was on my last dollar.”

“Morrie?” Erik asked, bemused.

“Yes, Morrie. I'm Emmie and she's Morrie. It's just our thing,” Emma said, leaning back against the prep table.

“I'll have to remember that,” Erik said, taking a sip of his coffee. “And of course I gave you a job, Emma. You had all the experience in the world, you would fit in with this scene without question, and you told me your situation. All of that made you the perfect person to work here.”

“Well, I'm still grateful for it,” Emma said, standing up straight when she noticed one of her tables flagging her down. “I'll be back.”

Erik nodded as Emma walked away, and a few moments later, he found Peter sitting down beside him. “Hey, kid.”

“Hi, Erik,” Peter said, taking a deep breath. “So, I had a proposition for you and I don't know what you're going to think about it.”

“I am here to listen,” Erik said, spinning around so he was facing Peter. “What is it?”

“You have that room upstairs next to the kitchen that's full of boxes and stuff. I was wondering if maybe we could take the boxes and stuff out and make that into a room for me,” Peter said quietly. “The guest room has become Charles's room and I'm kind of sick of sleeping on the sofa.”

Erik sighed heavily. “I hadn't even thought about where you were sleeping, to be honest. Why didn't you just sleep in my bed while I was gone?”

“Because it's your bed,” Peter said, giving Erik a pleading look. “Can you at least think about it? For me?”

“I don't need to think about it,” Erik said, smiling at him. “We'll get it all taken care of this weekend, okay? I'll get the boxes and shit out of there, and then this weekend we can go pick out a bed and whatever else you need in there, alright?”

Peter broke out into a smile. “That's great. Thanks, Erik. That means a lot.”

Erik reached out and pulled Peter into a hug. “I really am glad that you're here, Peter. I am so happy that you're my son.”

Peter felt his eyes well up with tears. “Really? Because I'm just the mistake and I...”

“Never call yourself a mistake again,” Erik said firmly. “Was it planned? No. But that doesn't mean that you're not wanted. Your mother might have been a complete bitch about this entire situation, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to have a son. I am so proud to have a son. My parents would be very happy about that.”

Peter pulled back and reached up to wipe his eyes. “You never talk about them.”

“Then we'll do that this weekend too,” Erik said. “You deserve to know about them.”

“Peter!”

“I've got to get back to work now,” Peter said, standing up. “But thanks, Erik. I really appreciate all of this.”

Peter was gone before Erik could say another word, and Erik turned to look out into the dining room, sighing when he saw Emma bend down and give Angel a kiss. That was going to turn into nothing but trouble, and Erik was pretty sure he'd have two broken waitresses at the end of it.

**********

“What do you mean, you're taking the shows exclusive to Genosha?” Bobby asked, staring across the kitchen at where John was making breakfast. 

“It means I'm taking the shows exclusively to Genosha,” John said, reaching for something to spray the pan with. “How is that hard to understand?”

Bobby sighed heavily. “Will you please tell me what the fuck is really going on? I don't want to have to ask Erik because I'm sure that he knows more than I do.”

John stayed silent until he was cracking eggs and pouring them into the pan. “The shows are losing money. And I mean a lot of money.”

Bobby's jaw dropped. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I know that you think that the balance in our bank account keeps going down because I'm out buying drugs somewhere, but that's not it. It's the fact that keeping the shows running at the moment means I'm having to drain it.”

Bobby collapsed into one of the chairs at the kitchen table and ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck.”

“Basically.”

“How long as this been going on?”

“A while.”

“Be fucking honest with me,” Bobby demanded. “How long has this been going on?”

John took a deep breath and stirred the eggs around in the pan. “Almost eight months.”

“Eight months?” Bobby exclaimed. “You kept this from me for eight months?”

“I was trying to figure it out, baby. I didn't want to worry you,” John murmured. “But now Erik said he'd pay me enough to take the shows to Genosha exclusively so that we're back to making money again. I jumped at it. So everything will be okay again and we can start building our savings back up.”

Bobby took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down. “Johnny, we were saving money for a new apartment.”

“I know we were, baby. But I had to make sure that my job still worked out. You know I'm not qualified to do anything else.”

“That's fucking bullshit and you know it,” Bobby said seriously. “You could get a job doing what you were educated for.”

“And I'm not working in a fucking office doing insurance claims anymore,” John countered back. “You were supportive as fuck when I started the business. You helped me through so much shit to get it started, even when that meant I was spending money we didn't exactly have. I need you to be supportive now while I try to get things back on track.”

“I am supportive!” Bobby said loudly. “I'm just angry that you kept this for me for eight fucking months!”

“And I'm sorry about that,” John said, transferring the scrambled eggs onto the plates and heading towards the table. “Here. Eat.”

“I am not fucking eating until we finish this discussion.”

“Well, I'm fucking eating and then heading to the dance studio. We have to work out four distinct shows to do at Genosha now, and the boys only know the new one and the old one that we're not doing anymore. That means I need the choreographer to come back in, and fuck, that's not cheap.”

Bobby sighed heavily. “And I suppose you're going to take more of those pills to help you through the day so that you're not sober.”

“You don't know what you're talking about.”

“Then tell me what the fuck the pills are!” Bobby sat there frustrated as John stayed silent, so he picked up part of his eggs and threw it at him. “I swear to God, I will walk out this door and never come back if you don't tell me.”

John's head shot up and took in the look on Bobby's face. “You don't mean that.”

“The fuck I don't,” Bobby said firmly. “I'll go back to Los Angeles, maybe stay with Artie for a while. I'm sure he'll be all to happy to help me move on.”

John stared at him for a moment before swallowing hard. “It's nothing that would make me fail a drug test, so don't worry about it.”

“That has me even more worried now,” Bobby said, his voice softening. “Please, Johnny. Please tell me what they are.”

John turned his attention back to his plate before sighing heavily. “They're caffeine pills, okay? And I fucking need them. It's the only way I can function right now.”

“Caffeine pills?” Bobby exclaimed. “Do you even realize how fucking addictive those motherfucking things are?”

“Fuck off.”

“How fucking long have you been taking them?”

“Fuck off.”

“I am fucking serious about leaving.”

John closed his eyes. “Six months.”

Bobby sat there in shock. “Six fucking months? I've only suspect you were doing drugs for about two.”

“Then what the fuck was the rest of the suspicion then? Because you've been implying for more than two months.”

Bobby sat there for a moment before sighing heavily. “It's stupid.”

“I don't care. I want to know.”

“Your nights got longer,” Bobby said softly. “You'd come home smelling like the club. You weren't interested in sex. It just sent my mind down a path that I hate. And then when the boys started telling me that something was up, I just...you can't blame me for thinking that way.”

John stood up and moved around the table to the chair next to Bobby's, sitting down and pulling him into his arms. “I'd never do that to you again. Ever.”

“I know,” Bobby whispered, putting his head on John's shoulder. “I know. But I just...”

“It's okay, baby,” John said, running his hand down Bobby's back. “I love you, Bobby. More than I ever knew I could love someone. It's you, and I've known that it's you since the night we met. You've been the thing my world orbits around ever since. And I've been an asshole at times, and I did some horrible things in the beginning, but you straightened me out. You pulled me out of that life and I've never been happier that you did.”

“I love you too, Johnny. I'm sorry for even thinking it.” Bobby took a couple of shuddering breaths before pulling back and staring at John. “You're stopping the fucking pills though.”

“Fucking hell, baby. I need those.”

“No, you really don't,” Bobby said, shaking his head. “Johnny, I don't want you to be so addicted to them that I have to live without you for a month while you're in rehab. A month away from you would kill me. Stop taking the fucking pills.”

John sat there for a moment before pulling Bobby into a kiss. “Okay, I'll stop. I promise.”

“Good,” Bobby said, kissing him harder. “But next time, fucking talk to me about this shit instead of keeping it from me, okay?”

“I will,” John murmured against Bobby's lips. “I promise that too.”

Bobby kissed him deeply before pulling back. “Breakfast is cold.”

“I don't give a fuck about breakfast,” John said, making Bobby laugh. 

“I hope that means you're interested in fucking me through the mattress.”

John growled and stood up, pulling Bobby out of his chair. “The dance studio can wait. This is far more important than that. We need to have makeup sex immediately.”

“I agree with that,” Bobby said, walking away from him as he pulled off his shirt. 

John watched as he dropped it onto the floor before disappearing down the hallway, grinning and following after him. He probably should have told him eight months ago, but he was going to get some of the best sex they ever have out of it, so it might have been worth the risk of the fight. Especially since Erik was saving their asses. 

He'd have to thank Erik again the next time he saw him.


	17. Chapter 17

Erik looked up when Charles walked into the apartment, immediately abandoning the dishes he had been washing and heading towards him. “How did it go?”

Charles went happily into Erik's arms, sighing as he took comfort from the loving embrace. “I testified all day, but I don't have to anymore. They dismissed me right before they adjourned for the day. I'm done.”

“That's good,” Erik said, tightening his embrace. “I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you.”

“I said I didn't want anyone there and I meant it,” Charles murmured. “I didn't want anyone to know everything that I went through. Scott does though. He was there with Alex.”

“He won't say a thing to anyone. I promise you that. Scott's not that kind of guy.”

“I know,” Charles said, sighing heavily. “Can we get drunk, please?”

“We can do whatever you want, baby,” Erik said. “What do you want to drink?”

“Doesn't matter. Just something that will get me drunk fast.”

Erik brushed a kiss to Charles's forehead and let go. “Then I will get us some vodka then. Go sit down.”

Charles walked over to the sofa as Erik headed into the kitchen. He let the sink full of water drain before getting the vodka and a couple of glasses. He sat down next to Charles a few moments later, and as soon as Erik poured him a drink, Charles knocked it back and asked for another. Erik repeated the process five times before Charles let his head fall back against the sofa, closing his eyes as the pleasant buzz spread through him.

Erik poured himself some and knocked them back just as fast. When he felt that he'd had enough for the moment, he leaned back against the sofa and watched Charles for a while. He knew that he should resist. He knew Charles was a total mess still. But he couldn't stop himself from thinking that Charles was the most beautiful man he'd ever seen. His feelings for him were continuing to build. He absolutely could not do anything about it though. Not while Charles was like this. Charles needed to be clean and sober, back to whatever of himself was left, before Erik dare try to tempt him into his bed.

But then Charles turned and looked over at him, those eyes that Erik adored staring straight into his own, and Erik found it hard to keep his self-control. He couldn't do this. He absolutely could not.

Charles apparently didn't care about Erik's inner monologue though, and he reached out, caressing the side of Erik's face before pulling him into a kiss. Erik sighed as Charles's lips massaged his own and when Charles pulled back, Erik drew him back in for another. And then another. And then another. And then another and another and another. Before Erik really thought about it, his hands were underneath Charles's shirt, roaming over his skin and grinning into their kiss whenever Charles softly groaned.

Charles reached down to palm Erik through his pants, smiling when he realized how big Erik was. All he could think about was how good that was going to feel once it was inside of him, fucking him harder than he'd ever been fucked before. He knew that this would be sex that he really wanted, that Erik was someone that wouldn't make him think of any of the others. Sebastian had been nice but he'd still felt like he was fucking one of the tricks most of the time, the things that Sebastian liked to say bringing up memories that Charles really wanted to forget. But Erik was different. Charles had known that since the night they met.

Charles's shirt was on the floor and Erik's unbuttoned and just hanging there before what they were doing made it's way into Erik's brain. He broke their kiss and stared at Charles for a moment, but Charles wasn't having that and started sucking at the base of Erik's neck. “Charles,” he got out. “We've got to stop.”

“No, we don't,” Charles said into his skin. “I've wanted this for so long, Erik. Don't take it away from me now.”

“You're not ready for something like this.”

Charles sat back and shook his head. “I'm more ready for something like this than you know. I need this, Erik. I've needed it since the night you saved me. You are the only person I've ever been around that I've wanted this with. Please, please, don't take it away from me now.”

Erik watched him for a moment before standing up, reaching for his hand. “I've needed it for a while too. I just wanted you to be ready.”

Charles let Erik pull him up and smiled at him. “I'm ready.”

Erik pulled him into another kiss and Charles worked Erik's shirt off of him. “You're absolutely sure of this, Charles?”

“I'm absolutely sure of this,” Charles said, palming Erik through his pants again. “I need to wrap my lips around this and bring you to the edge before laying down on your bed and getting you to fuck me as hard as possible with ti.”

Erik felt a shiver go down his spine. “I can't wait then.”

“I was hoping you'd say that.”

**********

Scott walked into the apartment, murmuring thanks to Darwin for holding open the door on his way out. Alex was already inside the bedroom, but Scott felt that walking into such a personal space that belonged to him and Darwin wasn't right. So, he sat down on the sofa and looked around, making a mental note to somehow find a way for the two of them to get a better apartment. This place was absolutely awful. Paint peeling off the ceiling, stains all over the walls that he was one hundred percent sure had not been made by the two of them. The carpet was a disgusting mixture of green and yellow threads, and Scott thought he'd get vertigo just from seeing it every day if he lived there. He was determined to make sure that Alex had a better life now, and though he now knew exactly what Alex had been through, he still didn't feel like this was enough of a step in the right direction.

Alex came walking into the room a moment later, wearing one of his old t-shirts that Scott had kept all these years and a pair of sweatpants, and Scott couldn't help but think how much he looked the same and yet completely different. It was still him, still Alex, still his brother, but he was someone else entirely now.

Scott had sat in that courtroom for the last three days, tried to tune things out while Darwin and Charles testified about the hell they'd been through because he knew that neither of them wanted anyone from the restaurant to be there, and then today, Alex had taken the stand. Alex told how he'd been walking down the street heading to where he was going to meet up with friends when suddenly he was grabbed from behind and shoved into an alley, a knife immediately at his throat. He gone along with him when the guy put the knife right at his lower back as he walked him towards a building, and then he'd been led into an empty room, forced down to his knees, and had a dick shoved into his mouth. The man had introduced himself as Cain while he nearly choked Alex to death, his hands around Alex's neck as he fucked his mouth raw. Then when Alex thought he'd never be able to breathe again, he'd been shoved down to the ground, his pants had been ripped off of him, and Cain had raped him while he'd held the knife to Alex's throat, ignoring Alex's cries of pain and his pleading of him to stop. 

Alex had been an absolute mess by the time that Cain was done with him, and then he'd been been carried up into the apartment that he'd spend the next five years in, being pumped full of drugs and told to stand on a street corner. If Alex came back with a smaller amount of money than Cain thought he should have earned, then he'd shove Alex down onto the floor in front of everyone in the room and fuck him raw, his hands wrapped around Alex's throat again, until Alex literally passed out because he wasn't able to breathe.

Scott had felt sick throughout the entire time that Alex had testified, and he had no idea where to start now that he knew everything Alex had been through. He would find some way to though, because there was no way he wasn't going to do everything in his power to help Alex heal. He just hadn't realized he was quite this broken.

Alex walked over to the sofa and sat down on the other side of it, and an uneasy silence filled the air until Alex coughed. “So, um, that was what happened to me.”

“I don't even know what I'm supposed to say about it,” Scott said, his voice hollow. “Listening to you talk about all of that today just made think of everything I should have done to find you sooner.”

“Don't do that to yourself,” Alex said, sliding a little closer to him. “That's not going to help anything, Scotty.”

Scott took a couple of deep breaths before looking over at him. “What are you willing to do to help yourself heal? Because I will make sure that whatever you need happens.”

“I need to go to rehab,” Alex said softly. “That's for sure. I'm absolutely dying for a hit right now but I told Darwin I'd stop that shit and I've held to that.”

“I know that feeling,” Scott said, and Alex instantly got confused. 

“What?”

Scott let out a small laugh. “When we couldn't find you, I sort of self-destructed. Drank so much I turned into an alcoholic, and then when the drinking wasn't enough, I'd start buying shit from the queens down in the club, got myself addicted to a bunch of stuff. Hid it all for years until I had a breakdown not that long before Darwin came into the restaurant looking for a job. Erik got me into rehab and I got straightened out. Doesn't mean I still don't kill for it every now than then. I just know to have one or two drinks instead of the whole bottle now, and I definitely know that I'm never touching the shit I used to use again.”

Alex took a shuddering breath and slid even closer to him, putting his head on Scott's shoulder. “I'm sorry that you did all of that because of me. I'm not worth it.”

“You're worth everything,” Scott said, carefully putting an arm around him. “Don't you ever think otherwise.”

Alex took a deep breath before deciding that he had to ask. “Does any of what you heard today make you love me any less? Because I will totally understand if it does. I mean, you have a whore for a brother now. I can't imagine you could possibly still love me as much as you used to.”

“I makes me love you more.” Scott leaned his head against Alex's and tightened his grip on him. “You did what you had to do to survive, not because you wanted to. I sat there and listened to all of that today but I also listened to you constantly say that the only reason you didn't run was because you were convinced that he'd find you and kill you. You even said that killing you would have been preferable compared to being hauled back there and being made to work again. You were terrified that he was going to find you once you and Darwin ran, and you were terrified that he was still going to find you even after they arrested him, and you told the court today that you're terrified that he's somehow still going to get you killed. But he's not going to, Alex. There's no way that he can get to you now.”

“I don't know how to do anything anymore,” Alex murmured, tears falling down his cheeks. “My only skill is sex. Unfortunately, I have become pretty good at that.”

“Your only skill is not sex,” Scott said strongly. “That's just what he made you believe. I promise you, there is so, so much more to you than just that.”

“You really believe that?”

“I really know that,” Scott said firmly. “You just haven't been in a situation where you needed to do anything more than sex in a very long time. But you're not there anymore, Alex. And you're never going to be there again.”

Alex nodded and sat up, wiping at his eyes. “Are you hungry? I don't know what all food that we have but I'm sure there's something that the two of us could eat.”

“How about we just order takeout instead?” Scott said, smiling at him when Alex looked over at him. “Whatever you want. My treat.”

Alex swallowed hard. “Really?”

“Really,” Scott said, reaching for his phone. “Pick what kind of food you want and I'll find the closest restaurant. We'll look through their menu online and then decide what we want to order, okay?”

Alex gave him a small smile. “That sounds great, Scotty. Thanks.”

“He tell you about the pills yet?” Erik asked, coming to stand next to Bobby as he watched John put the dancers through a rehearsal.

“Yeah, and I told him that I'm not letting him do that fucking shit anymore,” Bobby said firmly. “He promised me that he'd stop.”

“I hope he keeps that promise.”

“Me too,” Bobby murmured. “I'm worried about him. I feel like this is more than just the shows losing money. Thank you for what you're doing for us, by the way. I don't know what we would have done without you paying for the shows to be exclusive.”

“I do what I have to do for this family, Bobby. I'm more than happy to be doing this for you. It's not like I'm not going to benefit from this either,” Erik said, looking over at him. “But what do you mean that you think this is more than that?”

“Doug is back in Los Angeles because he finally got a fucking job there, and he said that Johnny is acting strange every time they're on the phone together. I have no clue what that is about, and he wouldn't be acting strange when he talks to Doug if this was just about the shows. He would have just fucking told Doug that.”

“So you think he's lying to you.”

“I don't know if he's lying to me or not. But I think I haven't been completely told the truth. Whatever it is, it's something Johnny really doesn't want to talk about. So, I'm worried.”

“I think you have every right to be worried after everything you just found out about. It's not like John to just keep these things from you.”

Bobby sighed heavily. “I know. Which is why I'm even more worried than I would be otherwise. He fucking kept this stuff about the shows from me for eight fucking months. That means something happened eight months ago that I know nothing about. He can try to tell me that he didn't tell me because he didn't want to worry me all he wants. I know that it's more than that.”

“Well, if you need me to try to get it out of him, let me know and I will be glad to,” Erik said, nodding when Bobby looked over at him. “I mean that.”

“I know you do,” Bobby said, turning his attention back to the rehearsal. “So, you want to talk about it yet?”

“Talk about what?”

Bobby just rolled his eyes. “We can all tell that something happened with you and Charles, Erik. So, do you want to talk about it yet?”

Erik stood there for a moment, wondering how he and Charles could have been so obvious, before shaking his head. “Nope.”

“Well, when you do, I'm here to listen.”

“I know,” Erik said, nodding towards the rehearsal. “Watch that for as long as you want but be sure you actually get to work at some point.”

“I will, I promise,” Bobby said, and Erik walked away from him, heading up into the restaurant and looking around before going up into the apartment. 

He heard music playing in Peter's room, and he took a minute to wonder how on earth he was supposed to have a sex life when he had a kid around. But then Peter came walking out of his room, pulling the headphones off his ears and pressing pause on his phone. “Erik, look at how sick these trainers are.”

Erik glanced down at the shoes on his feet before nodding. “Very cool. How much did those cost you?”

“I saved up enough in tip money,” Peter said defensively. “It's not like I had anything else to spend that money on. Charles wouldn't let me go anywhere but school while you were gone. He was super worried that something was going to happen to me.”

“Charles did that, hm?”

“Yeah, he took on this like pseudo father role. Said he was just doing what he thought you would want. Went totally overboard about the whole thing, but after what happened to him, I don't really blame him,” Peter said, glancing down at his phone. “Well, I'm going to be late for my shift, so I've got to go.”

Erik watched Peter walk towards the door, calling out his name when he reached it. He waited until Peter turned around before nodding towards the shoes. “Write down how much they were on a piece of paper and put it on your desk. I'll give you your money back.”

“Erik, I paid for them myself,” Peter said. “It's fine.”

“You shouldn't be saving up all that money and using it to buy a pair of shoes. You should be out having fun with your friends,” Erik said, reaching into his wallet and grabbing some money. “In fact, here. Go have fun with your friends when your shift ends tonight. I'm sure there's a pizza place or a movie or something you all would love to go to.”

Peter glanced down at the money Erik had handed him before looking up at him with a big smile. “Thanks, Erik.”

“You are more than welcome, Peter,” Erik said. “Send Charles up here, will you? He's worked too much this week. He needs a break.”

“So you can fuck him again.”

Erik stared at him for a moment. “Excuse me?”

Peter just rolled his eyes. “Please, you two are obvious. Pieces of your clothes all over the floor when I come up from my shift, Charles sleeping in your bed for the last two weeks, and something has obviously changed. It doesn't really take a genius to figure it out. Don't worry, no one else has figured it out yet.”

Erik sighed heavily. “Not a word about that to anyone. I'm not even sure that Charles would want to know that you know yet.”

“Don't worry, I won't say a word,” Peter said, opening the door. “Though, if you take this seriously, I have to say that as a prospective stepfather, you could do a lot worse than Charles.”

Peter was out the door before Erik could say anything more about it. 

He was still standing there a few minutes later when Charles came into the apartment, and Charles took one look at Erik and locked the door behind him. “You look sexy as fuck in that shirt,” he murmured, walking up to Erik. “But you will look much better once I peel it off of you.”

Erik felt a shiver go down his spine. “Are you still sure that we should be doing this?”

“More sure than anything I've ever done,” Charles said, walking around Erik and pulling his shirt off, dropping it to the floor as he headed towards Erik's room. “We don't have much time before Peter gets up here after his shift, so let's make the most of it.”

Erik smiled and walked after him. “I gave him money to go out somewhere with his friends once his shift is over.”

“Mm, excellent,” Charles said. “That means you can fuck me even more.”

“I can't believe you're this eager for sex after everything you went through,” Erik found himself saying, stopping in the doorway and watching as Charles worked his pants off.

“That was sex I didn't want,” Charles said, turning to look at him. “This is sex that I do. There is a very big difference. Now get undressed. I want to have some fun.”

Erik smiled at him, turned and shut the door, tried to tell himself that continuing to do this with Charles was a good idea, and then locked it just in case Peter came back before they were done. He knew he kept trying to stop it, but he wasn't sure he would actually be able to now that he'd had a taste of Charles. 

That could end up turning into a huge problem.


	18. Chapter 18

“I miss him.”

John looked up from his paperwork and stared at Sebastian for a moment. “You miss who?”

“Charles,” Sebastian sighed. “I really, really miss him.”

John sat back and ran his hands over his face. “Seb, you had to have known what would happen if Erik came back. You had to have known that this would end.”

“Yeah, well, I didn't,” Sebastian said, shaking his head. “And I certainly didn't expect to be completely removed from his life just because I punched him. I mean, I get that Erik's a good guy and all, but fuck, that's not something to completely destroy our relationship about.”

John sighed heavily as he thought about what to say. “Sebastian, it's been really pretty obvious to everyone that Charles is in love with Erik.”

Sebastian scoffed. “No, he's not.”

“Yes, he really is,” John countered back. “Charles is in love with Erik, and something has changed between them, and I would not be surprised one bit if that means that they've taken their relationship to another level.”

Sebastian stared at him. “You think Charles and Erik are fucking.”

“Yeah, I do,” John said, looking down at his paperwork again. “And you're just going to have to deal with that.”

“Why on earth would Charles and Erik be fucking?”

John sighed and looked up again. “Because Charles is in love with him and Erik's got a really big thing for him too.”

“You have lost your motherfucking mind,” Sebastian said, standing up when Charles walked into the room. “I'm going to go get my man back.”

“He was never your man,” John called out. “He was having sex with you for distraction.”

“Fuck off!” Sebastian said as he walked away. He approached the counter and put a big smile on his face. “Hello, darling.”

Charles glared at him. “I said I don't want to fucking talk to you.”

“I know, but that was a month ago, and I figured enough time had passed.”

“Well, it hasn't,” Charles said, grabbing the papers in front of him and stalking into the back.

Sebastian sighed heavily. “What did I do wrong?”

“You punched the man he loves, honey,” Emma said as she walked behind the counter. “That is something that he's not going to forgive you about for a very, very long time.”

“That's fucking ridiculous,” Sebastian muttered.

“You punched on of my girls and I would fucking kill you,” Emma said seriously. “And you don't understand any of this, Seb. You've never been in love.”

“Yes, I have been,” Sebastian said quietly.

Emma laughed. “When the fuck were you in love, honey?”

“When I was with Charles,” Sebastian murmured. “And now he's gone and I don't know what to do about it.”

Emma stared at him for a moment before walking around the counter and pulling Sebastian into her arms. “What you're feeling is infatuation, sweetie. It's not love.”

“Yes, it is,” Sebastian said, forcing his way out of her embrace. “And apparently no one understands that.”

Emma watched Sebastian practically run out of the restaurant and she sighed. “Oh fuck, that's not going to be good.”

“What's not?” Hank asked, coming up next to her.

“Seb thinks he's in love with Charles.”

“Fuck,” Hank mumbled. “That's not good.”

“No, it's not,” Emma said, glancing over at where Charles and Erik were having a conversation by the kitchen. “And when he realizes that Charles and Erik are fucking, it's going to be an explosion like nothing we've ever seen.”

Hank sighed heavily. “Let's try to make sure that there are no customers around to witness that.”

“I don't think that's a guarantee that you can make,” Emma said, noticing one of her tables flagging her down. “But I'll try.”

**********

Erik was sitting in his office when Bobby came in, and one look at him meant Erik knew that Bobby had figured things out. “Shut the door behind you.”

Bobby nodded and sat down, and all Erik did was sigh. “Yes, we're fucking.”

Bobby ran his hands over his face. “Are you really sure that's a good idea?” he asked carefully. “Because Charles is still a mess. He's barely been doing his job in the last three weeks because he's so fucking high all the time. Hank has no clue how to do inventory so I've been doing that and dealing with the club. It's starting to become too much.”

“I know, Bobby, and I'm sorry that you've being so overworked. I will be compensating you for all of this extra work, I promise.” 

“That does nothing to solve the actual problem,” Bobby said seriously. “You've got to get Charles into rehab. That's the only way that this is going to work. It's the only was your relationship is going to work.”

“I don't know if we're going to have a relationship,” Erik said softly. “I think it's just sex to keep Charles entertained and distracted.”

“I can guarantee you that it's not,” Bobby said. “Charles is in love with you, Erik. It's obvious to anyone who looks at him.”

Erik sat there for a moment before taking a deep breath. “I will do my best to get him into rehab as soon as possible. But I don't know how successful that's going to be. I've tried before and gotten nowhere.”

“Then tell him the only way you are going to continue this is if he goes,” Bobby said, standing up. “Because I bet that will get his ass into rehab.”

Erik nodded. “You figured out what's up with John yet?”

“No,” Bobby said as he walked to the door. “But I am pretty sure that he's not listening to me about the pills.”

“Fuck,” Erik muttered. “You need me to talk to him and I will.”

“I'll let you know,” Bobby said, opening the door. “I meant what I said about rehab.”

“I know,” Erik said, sighing when Bobby left. 

He tried to turn his attention back to the paperwork in front of him but after a few moments, he stood up and walked out of the office. He peeked into Charles's office and found it empty, so he went into the restaurant. A brief survey of the room told him that Charles wasn't there, so Erik made his way up to the apartment.

He found Charles laying on the sofa in nothing but his underwear, a blissed out look on his face that told Erik he was high. Charles smiled when he came into view and Erik smiled back, going over to the sofa and sitting on its edge, running a hand down the side of Charles's face. 

“You're supposed to be working right now.”

“Doesn't matter,” Charles said, nuzzling Erik's hand. “Someone else will do it.”

“Yes, it matters,” Erik said seriously. “I am not paying you to come up here and get fucked up all the time.”

“Not all the time,” Charles said, smiling. “A lot of the time you're fucking me into oblivion.”

Erik took a deep breath. “Yeah, well, that's not going to happen anymore.”

Charles became confused as Erik stood up and walked into the kitchen. “What do you mean it's not going to happen anymore?”

“Until you go to rehab and clean yourself up, we're not going to fuck. And I 'm not going to change my mind about that. That's the deal. You go to rehab, and then when you get back, we will resume what we started.”

“Erik,” Charles pleaded. “You don't understand. I need this.”

“No, you really don't,” Erik said, taking a deep breath to control his emotions. “I want to fall in love with you, Charles. But I mean you, not this fucked up version that is a complete mess still.”

“Erik,” Charles tried again, and Erik turned around to look at him.

“I am serious, Charles. That's the deal. You want to continue this, then you have to go to rehab.”

Charles swallowed hard as Erik walked into his bedroom, closing the door and locking it. He blinked furiously as the tears began to form behind his eyes and he collapsed back onto the sofa, trying to process what Erik had said. 

He couldn't have Erik and the drugs. He had to choose between them.

The drugs made him forget. The drugs made everything okay. The drugs were the only thing that got him through some days.

But Erik made him feel whole. Erik made him feel human. Erik made him feel like he actually deserved to be loved.

He had a decision to make.

**********

Scott brought the car to a stop, putting it into park and looking over at Alex. Alex was staring out the window at the rehabilitation facility and Scott had an idea of what he was thinking. “I know that this is scary. I know that this is terrifying. But the people inside that building can really help you, Alex. They helped me.”

“I know they did,” Alex said softly. “And that's the only reason I'm here right now.” 

Scott reached over and squeezed Alex's hand, making him look over at him. “I promise you that things are going to be okay. Going into that building will help make things okay.”

“Ororo said that to me in our last session,” Alex murmured. “Things are going to be okay. You'll have to forgive me if I don't see how that's possible at the moment.”

“I know that feeling. I've been there. But you've got to trust me, okay? I need you to trust me.”

Alex nodded after a moment. “I trust you more than anyone on the planet. You've never let me down, Scotty. Ever.”

Scott reached over the console and pulled Alex into a hug. “I wish I felt that way.”

“You need to stop torturing yourself about how long I was missing, okay?” Alex said, putting his head on Scott's shoulder. “That's not going to help me.”

Scott nodded against him and pulled back. “I'll try. I promise.”

Alex sucked in a deep breath. “You're going to call Mom and Dad?”

“I'm going to call them the second I get back to the car from getting you checked in. I promise you that they're not going to reject you. They'll just be thrilled that you're alive. They've been trying to convince me for the past year that you must be dead.”

“No,” Alex mumbled. “I'm not.”

Scott squeezed him tighter. “They will help you. I promise.”

Alex nodded and Scott pulled back, reaching out to wipe away the tears that were falling. “Scotty, I don't know if I can do this.”

“Listen to me,” Scott said seriously. “You can do anything, Alexander. Absolutely anything. Going into that building and letting them help you is just another step in being free from the life you were forced to live. I promise you that.”

Alex swallowed hard. “You really mean that, don't you?”

“I really mean that,” Scott said, smiling softly. “They are part of the process of getting you back to as much of who you really are as we can get. And I promised you that I would do anything to help you heal. This is just step one.”

Alex sat there for a moment. “Step one.”

“Step one,” Scott confirmed. “And I'll be there for every step that you need to take. But you've got to trust me on this one.”

Alex closed his eyes, took several deep breaths, and then reached for his seatbelt. “Then let's go inside.”

Scott smiled at him and reached for his seat belt. “Everything's going to be okay, Alex. I promise.”

“I know, Scotty,” Alex murmured. “I know.”

**********

Emma collapsed onto her bed, sighing heavily. Sebastian's words were still floating around in her mind, and she couldn't quite believe them.

Could Sebastian actually finally be in love?

She didn't think it was possible for someone like Sebastian to fall in love. He was too self-absorbed, too shallow, too everything. He couldn't possibly cherish and value someone the way she did Moira. No possible way.

Her thoughts on Sebastian stopped then, and they immediately switched to why she'd only said Moira. Didn't she love Angel just as much? 

No, she didn't, and she already knew that.

Angel was fun. Angel was great. Angel was amazing. But Angel wasn't Moira. 

All Emma had ever needed was Moira.

“Emmie?”

Emma broke herself from her thoughts and looked up to see Moira standing in the door way, a cautious look on her face. “Morrie. Come here.”

Moira smiled and walked into the room, crawling onto the bed and settling herself in Emma's embrace. “You look lost a million miles away.”

“I'm not, I promise,” Emma said, pressing a kiss to Moira's head. “I'm just thinking about Sebastian. We might have a massive problem on our hands.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that Seb thinks he's in love with Charles.”

Moira let out a small laugh. “Sebastian in love? I didn't think that was possible.”

“I don't think he actually is. I think it's just an infatuation. But Charles refusing to talk to him means that someone took away his toy and Sebastian doesn't react well to things like that.”

“This is going to turn really ugly when Charles and Erik stop trying to hide the fact that they're fucking, isn't it?”

“Probably,” Emma said, sighing. “I love Seb, I really do, but he's going to lose this one. Everyone but him can tell that Charles is in love with Erik.”

Moira turned to look at Emma and saw the tension on her face. “Emmie, let's not worry about that right now, okay?”

“I can't help it,” Emma said. “This is going to be a disaster.”

“It'll be what it'll be,” Moira said, sliding on top of her. “But I can make you think about something else.”

Emma grinned and wrapped her arms around Moira's waist. “And how do you think you can do that?”

“Just lay back and enjoy, okay?”

Emma nodded and Moira brought their lips together, and all Emma could think about was how she needed this, only this, for the rest of her life.

Which made the Angel part of the equation all the more troubling.


	19. Chapter 19

Erik was in the storeroom when Bobby walked in, and Bobby took one look at the clipboard in his hands and knew that Erik was trying to do the inventory. “Erik, you have no idea how to do this.”

“That's not true,” Erik said, checking a number on the clipboard. “But I do not know if I am supposed to count the stuff that's already being used in these numbers or not.”

“No, you're not,” Bobby said, taking the clipboard from Erik and looking down. “And you're doing this horribly wrong.”

Erik sighed heavily. “Well, I need to learn how to do it. I can't have you doing both this and running the club for as long as this takes.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that I gave Charles the ultimatum,” Erik said, looking over at him. “I haven't heard his answer yet, but I'm really hoping that he chooses rehab.”

Bobby studied him for a moment. “You're really invested in this relationship, aren't you?”

“I have never met anyone like Charles,” Erik breathed out. “I've been captivated by him since the moment that we met. I just knew that I could help him if he let me, and when he came back here, I was so happy that I'd get that chance. But it's been different with him since the very start. I've cared more about healing him than I ever have any of my pet projects. Even Sebastian.”

“I don't think Charles knows that Sebastian was a pet project yet,” Bobby said. “Telling him Sebastian's story might make him make the decision for rehab more.” 

“You think?”

Bobby nodded. “And I think it's great that you've finally met someone, Erik. I really do. But I am worried about who that someone is.”

Erik took a deep breath. “I want to fall in love with him, Bobby. I'm already almost there and I'm not sure I even really know him.” 

“He's definitely become more comfortable while you were gone, more open with all of us,” Bobby said. “But I'm not sure any of us know him and I'm willing to bet that you know him more than any of us.”

Hank came into the storeroom before anything else could be said. “They found Cain guilty. They just announced it on the radio.”

Erik breathed a sigh of relief while Bobby broke out into a smile. “That's fantastic news,” Bobby said. “I think that will really help Charles and Darwin.”

“I think it will help all of us,” Hank said, glancing over at Erik. “You alright?”

“I'm fine,” Erik said, shaking his head. “I'm just happy that I can tell Charles this is over.”

Hank smiled at him. “You ready to admit that you're fucking yet?”

Erik's head whipped around. “What?”

“Everyone can tell, Erik,” Hank said. “It's okay. But be prepared because Sebastian is going to be a serious problem. Emma told me that he thinks he's in love with Charles.”

Erik groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Fuck.”

“It'll be alright,” Hank said. “Sebastian will eventually deal with it.”

“Yeah, after a complete explosion,” Bobby said, shaking his head. “This will be like nothing we've ever seen before if Sebastian thinks he's in love with Charles.”

“I'll deal with Sebastian,” Erik murmured. “I need to go tell Charles about the verdict.”

“I'll inform Darwin when he comes in for his shift if he doesn't already know,” Hank said, ducking back out of the storeroom.

“Erik,” Bobby said as he started to walk away. “If you get Charles into rehab, I'll teach you how to properly do inventory so you can do it while he's gone. Until then, I'll keep doing it. It needs to be done right or there's not going to be enough food to feed the customers.”

“Thank you, Bobby,” Erik said. “I appreciate that and will make sure you're duly compensated for this.”

“I might just need you to talk to Johnny as compensation,” Bobby said, sighing. “I still don't know what is really wrong.”

“We'll figure it out, I promise,” Erik said. “Now, excuse me.”

Bobby nodded and Erik walked out of the storeroom, heading for the stairs to the apartment. When he let himself in, he found Charles and Peter on the sofa, halfway through the superhero movie that Peter had become obsessed with. “Hey, Peter? Do you mind if you give me a few minutes alone with Charles? I have some news for him.”

Peter paused the movie and stood up. “Sure, Erik. I'll just go get us some food from the kitchen. We need some snacks and you don't really have much food up here.”

“I'll make sure that's corrected,” Erik said as Peter walked to the door. “Take whatever you need from the storeroom. Bobby's in there at the moment doing inventory. Just tell him I said it was okay.”

Peter nodded and disappeared out the door, making Erik walk over to the sofa and sit down. “Charles, we need to talk about the trial for a moment.”

“I thought I said that I never wanted to talk about that again,” Charles murmured, grabbing one of the pillows and hugging it. “Why are you going to make me talk about it?”

“I'm not going to make you talk about it,” Erik soothed. “I'm just going to tell you that they found Cain guilty.”

Charles sat there for a few moments before swallowing hard. “Guilty?”

“Guilty,” Erik confirmed. “Hank heard the news on the radio. I'm sure Jean will have more information once she gets here. I know this is the first place she'll come when she gets out of the courtroom and finishes dealing with the prosecutor. The prosecutor will likely tell her what kind of sentencing they're going to go for. Jean told me that the last time she was here.”

“I hope they put him away for life,” Charles muttered. “Or better yet, kill him.”

“Capital punishment is not an option for this,” Erik said softly. “And I would think that you would want him to suffer in prison for what he did instead of them taking the easy way out and just killing him for it.”

“Good point,” Charles murmured. “I hope it's life then.” 

“I don't know if that will be the case or not,” Erik said. “Jean has said that life sentences are not an option with anything he's been charged for. The amount of consecutive sentences that he could get would keep him in prison for decades though.”

“I'm worried,” Charles whispered, “about what will happen if he gets out.”

Erik slid closer to Charles and hugged him close. “Nothing is going to happen to you, Charles. I promise.”

“You can't promise me that,” Charles said, burying his head in Erik's neck. “The last time you promised me that, you nearly died.”

“Alright, maybe I can't. But he's going to be in prison for a very long time, Charles. But Charles, he has no idea that your last name is Xavier. Your last name was never used when you testified for your safety. He will have no way of finding you if he were to get out and want to.”

Charles sucked in several deep breaths before pulling back. “You just want me to get my inheritance and leave.”

“Get your inheritance, yes. Leave, no,” Erik said, smiling at him. “I told you before that you can stay forever if you want. I meant that. But you've got to clean yourself up if you do. Your life cannot change if you keep holding on to this past that you want to forget. I know you think the drugs help you, Charles. But they don't. They really, really don't.”

“Erik, I...”

Erik stood up and walked away. “You're absolutely useless to me at the moment from a business standpoint. Bobby is doing your job and his, which makes him incredibly overworked from a labor standards laws standpoint. I'm not sure how he's getting enough sleep at the moment because when he's not here, he's trying to figure out what the fuck is going on with John.”

“Erik...”

“You're absolutely useless to me from a personal standpoint too. I want nothing more than to explore what this is between us, Charles. I want to take you on dates and kiss you whenever I feel like it and let everyone know that I'm the lucky one who has you. I want to fall in love you, baby. I know that is something that will happen if I'm just given the chance. But I don't have that chance at the moment. All I have is you laying around fucked up all the time, and on the odd time when you're not, all you want to do is fuck. I can't deal with that, Charles. You know how I feel about drugs. I won't be in a relationship with a drug addict.”

Charles had tears rolling down his cheeks before he even realized they were threatening. “Erik...I can't.”

Erik took a deep breath and turned his back to him, swallowing hard. “Then go back to fucking Sebastian because this is over.”

Erik walked out of the apartment before Charles could say a thing, standing at the top of the stairs and closing his eyes. Patient. He had to be patient. Charles would make the right decision in the end. 

Erik didn't know what he'd do if he didn't.”

**********

Jubilee finished wiping down the bar and walked over to where Kitty was, staring at her for a moment before sighing. “What's wrong?”

“It's nothing,” Kitty said, turning to put some bottles back in their places. 

“If you think I don't know what you look like when something is wrong, then you're insane. What is wrong?”

Kitty swallowed hard. “I'm just worried about Marie, that's all.”

Jubilee's brow furrowed. “Why would you be worried about Marie? I thought everything was great with Marie.”

“It's is, but...” Kitty took a deep breath. “She's on her way to Mexico to work on some porn because her friend is the director, but the hairstylist is one of her exes and she's slept with the friend who is the director, and I don't like anything about this.”

“Oh, KitKat.”

“Then as soon as this Mexico shoot is done, she's off to Italy for some Versace photoshoot and then after that, she'll be at both Paris and London's Fashion Weeks, and I'm not going to see her for like six weeks.”

Jubilee walked over to Kitty and wrapped her up in her arms. “Do you trust her?”

“Of course, I do.”

“Then I wouldn't worry about her being on this shoot in Mexico, though you're really going to have to explain to me how she knows people who make porn.”

Kitty let out a small laugh. “Remy is the first person who hired her when she started her career. They became friends. Bella is a hairstylist she worked with on another shoot. They became friends. Then Marie and Bella were in a relationship for a very long time, and then Marie and Remy had a night together, and I just...it's irrational worry, I know it is, but it's still worry.”

“Hey,” Jubilee said, making Kitty look at her. “It'll be alright. And if it's not, then Marie's not the one for you.”

“I know that you're telling me the truth,” Kitty said, sighing. “But as I said, it's an irrational fear. I love her, Jubes. I don't know what I'd do without her.”

Jubilee leaned forward and brushed a kiss along Kitty's forehead. “Distance sucks. I've never experienced that but I know that you can handle this. If you two love each other as much as you say that you do, then you need to trust that when she gets back from all this work, things will be better.”

Kitty nodded after a moment. “Okay. I will trust that things will be better, but I will still worry that they won't.”

“Marie loves you, Kitty. I can't see her finding someone else to love while she's gone.”

“I hope not.”

“Ladies,” came John's voice, and they turned around to see him walking over. “Did you enjoy the show tonight?”

Jubilee let go of Kitty and laughed. “I don't think I've ever seen a show when Janos, Azazel, and Sebastian all ended up naked before, but it sure did get the queens going.”

“I hope that stays that way,” John said, leaning up against the bar. “These shows have to be fucking perfect.”

“They will be, Johnny,” Kitty said, smiling at him. “I'm sure of it. And if they're not perfect the first time, you have time to refine them before the second.”

“I don't know what I'm going to do if these shows don't work once they're exclusive in a couple of weeks,” John murmured. “I really don't. I'll lose everything I have.”

“Erik won't do that to you and you know it,” Jubilee said, shaking her head.

“I wasn't talking about losing money,” John said, pushing away from the bar. “If you hear feedback from the queens, I want to know it, okay?”

“Alright, Johnny,” Kitty said as John walked away. “What the hell was that all about? Does he seriously think he's going to lose Bobby if the shows aren't successful?”

“I have no idea, but something's up with them,” Jubilee said, sighing. “I hate this.”

“Hate what?” They both jumped and turned to see Bobby ducking underneath the bar. 

“It's just something John said,” Kitty murmured. “An offhand comment, I'm sure.”

Bobby's gaze narrowed. “What did he say?”

“I'm not sure we should tell you that,” Jubilee started, but Bobby shook his head. 

“You're telling me or you're looking for another job.”

They both sighed heavily. “John was just talking about how the shows need to be successful,” Kitty started.

“And then he said he'd lose everything if they aren't, and we pointed out Erik would never do that to him,” Jubilee continued.

“Then Johnny said he wasn't talking about losing money,” Kitty finished, and Bobby slumped against the bar.

“I want to know what's really going on,” he breathed out. “And I have no idea where to start. He's not telling me anything. He's not telling Doug anything. Something happened and I just don't even know where to start when it comes to finding out.”

“Get him hammered,” Kitty suggested. “Johnny talks a mile a minute when he's drunk.”

“I don't really want to get him smashed when he's still taking those fucking pills.”

“So, you do know about the pills,” Jubilee said. “I was wondering if you did. I was going to bring it up soon but we just haven't had the chance for a chat like this.”

“Wait, what pills?” Kitty asked. “I don't know anything about this.”

“Johnny's been popping pills,” Jubilee told her. “I don't know what they are though.”

“They're caffeine pills,” Bobby said. “And I told him he was fucking stopping that but I know he hasn't. I'm seriously worried that he's addicted to them already.”

“Hey,” Jubilee said softly. “If he is, then we'll help you take care of it. You know that.”

“We don't exactly have the money for a trip to rehab,” Bobby murmured. “John drained our savings trying to keep the shows afloat before Erik offered him exclusivity. We were saving that up to get a new apartment too.” 

Kitty shook her head. “Erik would help you and you know it.”

“And you guys will get back to a place where you can get that new apartment quickly, I'm sure,” Jubilee said. “I know you were really excited about that prospect.”

“We were so close. We even had the building we wanted to buy it in all picked out. There's been a bunch for sale in it over the last year and we almost had enough money for what seemed like the average price in there. And then the shows started losing money and I just...I feel better that he's not doing something illegal, but I'm also concerned that these are more addictive than some of the stuff I thought he might be on.”

“Hey, bitches, can you make me a whiskey sour?” came Sebastian's voice, and both Kitty and Jubilee sighed.

“I am not making you a drink if you continue to call me a bitch,” Kitty said firmly.

“Neither am I,” Jubilee said. “There are appropriate terms of endearment around here and bitch is not one of them.”

Sebastian stopped in the middle of the dance floor. “You've got to be kidding me, right?”

“No, we're not,” Kitty said, shaking her head. “You want a drink, you've got to treat us nicely.”

Sebastian huffed. “Fine, I'll go home and drink myself to sleep then.”

“Seb,” Jubilee called out, but Sebastian just turned around and stalked off.

“This is going to be such a problem,” Bobby muttered. “He's not going to let go of this idea that he's in love with Charles easily.”

“Fuck,” Jubilee said. “I didn't know that he thought that.”

“Oh yeah,” Bobby said, standing up when he heard John's voice. “Not a word about our conversation to him, okay?”

“Sure thing, Bobby,” Kitty said, smiling at him. “But it'll be okay, I promise.”

“I really hope you're right,” Bobby said, turning to look at John. “Ready to go home, Johnny?”

“I am indeed, baby,” John said, grinning at him. “I was wondering if you were.”

Bobby nodded. “I finished early tonight. I think the new system of how to deal with the gate actually worked this time.”

“So, you've got our money then?”

“I've got our money,” Bobby confirmed. “I'll put it in the bank tomorrow.”

“Sounds good to me,” John said, nodding his head towards the door. “Then let's get home. We might even have time for some fun before we both have to go to sleep.”

The girls laughed as Bobby ducked out from underneath the bar. “I could be down for some fun.”

John grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards his office. “Then let's get your stuff and go.”

Kitty turned back to Jubilee when they were out of sight. “That's going to be a problem too, isn't it?”

“A big one,” Jubilee confirmed. “But hopefully Bobby will get it resolved before it turns into a massive one. Seb, on the other hand, will be a massive one.”

“I think you're right about that,” Kitty said, turning her attention back to the bottles. “Come on, let's get finished so we can go home. You and Theresa can go fuck and I'll go call Marie and see if she's done on set yet.”

Jubilee just rolled her eyes. “Theresa and I are not going to go fuck.”

Kitty just gave her a look. “Don't even try that with me, Jubes. I know you two. You're going to go fuck.”

Jubilee laughed. “You're probably right.”

“I know I'm right,” Kitty said, shaking her head. “Go grab the order sheet, will you? Let's get this shit done.”

“On it!”


	20. Chapter 20

“I want you to tell me what's wrong right now.”

John turned around with a confused look on his face. “What?”

Bobby just crossed his arms over his chest. “I'm serious. Tell me what the fuck is wrong.”

“I honestly have no idea what you're talking about,” John said, turning back to the mirror. “Nothing's wrong, baby. Once I get these shows for Genosha all worked out, then everything is going to be fine again.”

“If you think that I can't tell that you're lying to me, you're wrong,” Bobby said, walking into the bathroom and hopping up on the counter next to where John was shaving. “Please, Johnny. Please talk to me.”

“There's nothing to talk about.”

“I want to know what happened eight months ago,” Bobby said seriously. “I want to know what made you decide to keep the fact that the shows were losing money from me.”

“I told you why I kept that from you.”

“And as I said, I can tell that you're lying to me.”

John pulled the razor away from his face and looked over at him. “No, I'm really not. What the fuck is this about? I thought we'd settled everything.”

“So did I,” Bobby said, reaching out to grab John's hand before he could go back to shaving. “But I know you haven't stopped the fucking pills no matter how much you've been telling me that you have, I know that you're fucking addicted to the things and that's why you can't, and I know that all of this started because something happened. Tell me what the fuck happened.”

John sighed. “I have not been taking the pills and nothing fucking happened.”

“Stop fucking lying to me!” Bobby exclaimed. “I'm even more worried now than I was before you told me about the shows and that's because I have absolutely no idea what's happening. Please, Johnny. Talk to me before you ruin the best thing that's ever happened to both of us.”

“I'm not ruining anything,” John said, snatching his hand back and resuming shaving. “And I'm not lying to you.”

“This is reminding me of what happened when I found out about Piotr,” Bobby said softly. “I knew you were lying to me then and I know you are lying to me now.”

John kept shaving for a moment before dropping his head down. “It's nothing like what happened with Piotr.”

“Then what is it?” Bobby pleaded. “Please just tell me.”

John sucked in a couple of deep breaths. “I can't talk to you about this.”

“What the fuck am I here for if we can't talk to each other about anything and everything?” Bobby asked, unable to keep the hurt from creeping into his voice. “What is so awful that you can't even talk to me about it?”

John closed his eyes and sucked in a couple more deep breaths. “I just...you wouldn't understand.”

“I can't possibly understand if you don't tell me what it is,” Bobby said, studying him. “Whatever this is has you self-destructing and I'm worried as fuck about it.”

“I got a phone call. That's all.”

“That tells me absolutely nothing and you know it.” John stayed quiet and Bobby picked up the shaving cream, squirting some of it on his face. “Fucking talk to me.”

John reached up and wiped the cream away, reaching towards a towel. “That was childish.”

“I don't give a fuck what it was. Talk to me.”

“I told you, I got a phone call. That's all.”

“You're either telling me right now what this phone call was or I'm packing my bags and leaving. And I'm motherfucking serious about that.”

John wiped his face clean before tossing the towel to the side, examining it before deciding where he needed to shave more. “Can't you just let this go, baby?”

“No, I'm not going to just fucking let this go!” Bobby exclaimed. “Tell me what the fuck is going on or I really am fucking leaving and never coming back.”

John swallowed hard. “It was from someone I thought I would never hear from ever. And yes, it's fucked me up, and no, I don't know how to get my life back to where it was before this phone call.”

“Who called, Johnny?” Bobby asked softly.

John stared in the mirror for a moment before setting the razor down and walking out of the bathroom, so Bobby hopped down and followed him. John grabbed his shirt off the bed and put it on, and when Bobby tried to block him from leaving the room, John just put his hands on Bobby's shoulders and forced him to the side. Bobby followed him out into the main room and watched with hurt eyes as John grabbed his coat and put it on, snatching up his wallet and keys from the table. “Johnny, please tell me who called.”

John just walked out of the apartment without saying another word, and Bobby collapsed down to the floor, tears burning his eyes, wondering who the fuck it was that was trying to ruin things between them. Whoever it was, Bobby knew that this wasn't something John was going to deal with until he actually talked to him about it, and it seemed like that was the last thing in the world John wanted to do.

**********

Sebastian looked up when Erik came towards him, sighing heavily. He did not want to talk to the man that was taking Charles away from him. So when Erik st down across from him, Sebastian did nothing more than huff. “I do not have anything to say to you, thank you very much.”

“We will be dealing with this infatuation that you think is love another time,” Erik said seriously. “Right now, I need you to help me with Charles.”

“Help you how?”

“I would like you to tell Charles the story of how you became a pet project,” Erik said softly. “I am trying to get him to go to rehab and nothing I'm saying is working. I thought maybe if he heard what you went through that he might think about going more than he is at the moment.”

Sebastian stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. “Charles isn't speaking to me at the moment, sweetie. As much as I'd love to help you out because he really does need to go to rehab, he's not going to listen to a word I have to say. He'll just leave again.”

“You'll be doing this in the apartment,” Erik said. “There will be nowhere for Charles to run to because I won't let him leave. He needs to hear this, Seb. And it will mean more coming from you because he knows that you care about him. He knows that you took good care of him while I was gone. He likes you a lot because of that. If he knows what you went through, then he'll see the parallels to his own situation.”

Sebastian sat there thinking about it before sighing heavily. “I did promise Charles I'd tell him the story.”

“You told him you were a pet project?” Erik said, surprised. “I thought you kept that a secret from everyone.”

“I did after I punched you,” Sebastian explained. “And I told him I'd tell him the story, but he won't even fucking listen to me for more than two seconds so I haven't been able to. I just figured he wasn't interested. But I'll do anything to get my man back, so maybe this will work.”

Erik sighed heavily. “He's not your man, Sebastian.”

“Yes, he is, and you're stealing him away from me,” Sebastian said strongly. “I should punch you again for that.”

“I am not stealing Charles away from you. Charles was never yours to begin with.”

“Oh, honey, you weren't here for the last nine months. Yes, he is.”

Erik just shook his head. “I will let Charles explain to you how he's not then. But right now, I need you to come tell him your story. If Charles really means as much to you as you say he does, then you know he needs to get his ass to rehab and you know that you'll do anything to help make sure that happens.”

Sebastian stared at him for a moment before running his hands over his face. “And when do you want me to do this?”

“Right now,” Erik said seriously. “I'll get them to delay your order so that your food won't be sitting down here cold and then I'll make it on the house. Please, Seb. Please come do this for me.”

“I haven't even ordered yet, so that's not an issue. Sebastian pondered it for a moment before he nodded. “Okay, I'll come tell Charles the story.”

Erik smiled at him and stood up. “Thank you, Sebastian. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Sebastian waited until they were walking away from the table to ask. “Charles really means that much to you?”

“Charles means everything to me,” Erik said quietly. “It hurts me to know that he's suffering like this.”

Sebastian watched Erik as they made their way up to the apartment, sighing as realization came to him. Erik was in love with Charles, which meant he had serious competition, especially if Charles was in love with Erik like everyone kept trying to tell him. He just couldn't believe that though. He couldn't believe Charles would choose Erik over him.

Except he really could, but he was choosing not to think about that.

Erik let them into the apartment and Sebastian looked around for a moment before spotting Charles sitting on the sofa. He watched as Charles took a couple of pills before reaching towards a mirror that was on the table, and then Charles sniffed up a couple of lines that were on it. Sebastian knew Charles was an addict, but he'd never actually witnessed him taking the drugs before. One thing was incredibly clear now though and that was that Charles was way more fucked up than he had ever been. Rehab was unbelievably necessary.

“Charles?” Erik said, drawing his attention to them. “Can we talk to you for a moment?”

Charles took one look at Sebastian and shook his head. “I am not fucking talking to him.”

“I think you need to, baby,” Erik said, coming to sit next to him. “Please just listen to what he has to say. For me.”

Charles stared at Erik for a moment before shaking his head again. “He punched you. I am not going to forgive him for that.”

“I'm not asking you to forgive him. I'm asking you to listen to what he has to say.”

Charles watched as Sebastian sat down in one of the armchairs before sighing heavily. “He says what he wants and then he gets the fuck out because I do not want to talk to him.”

“Okay, if that's what you want, then that's what will happen,” Erik said before Sebastian could respond. “But right now I just need you to listen to Sebastian.”

Charles nodded and leaned back against the sofa. “Fine. Talk.”

Erik looked over at Sebastian, and Sebastian waited a moment before taking a deep breath and beginning to talk. “I had dreams, Charles. Big, dramatic, Broadway-style dreams when I moved here. I thought the world would realize they'd been missing out on the supreme fabulousness that was Sebastian Shaw. Designers would throw clothes in my direction and directors would beg me to star in their shows. Record labels would fight over my signature and fans would faint in my presence. Gifts would be lavished upon me. A penthouse on Fifth Avenue, a chauffeured limousine to take me wherever I wanted to go, a beach house in Los Angeles to jet off to whenever life got too complicated.

“That's what my dreams were. My reality, however, was very different. I was bagging groceries at a corner store and that definitely wasn't something that got my name lit up on a marquee. Every audition I went to was a disaster because I never got a call back. I slipped into more and more of a depression. One of the friends I had at the time told me that they knew a way for me to feel better, and before I even realized it, I was addicted to heroin. But that shit was expensive, so I wasn't paying my rent, and one day I came home from work and found an eviction notice on my door. I stared at it for a while before doing what any good, decent, supremely fabulous queen would do, so I packed up as much of my stuff as I could before sneaking out in the middle of the night.

“That was something I should have put some more thought into because wandering the streets with two gigantic suitcases in the middle of a snowstorm wasn't exactly an ideal situation. But I had nowhere to go, couldn't think of anything but finding somewhere to get my next hit, and I sat down on a bench and just let the snow fall around me. I felt like a complete and utter failure. A fraud. A liar. People had laughed at my dreams all my life and now I realized why. They were stupid. I was stupid. But I wasn't going to give in and go crawling back home, oh no. The only way I was going back home is in a wooden box. So I stared across the street and prayed I'd survive the night, promised myself that I'd come up with a new plan in the morning.

“And then someone wrapped something around my shoulders and sat down next to me. He told me that he'd been watching me sit out there for nearly two hours and that he thought I must be freezing. I didn't know how he could possibly know that, and he told me that he'd been watching me out the window across the street. I was sitting across the street from Station Thirty, Charles, and the man who sat down next to me was Erik. He asked me if I had anywhere to go and I said no, so he offered me one. I told him no immediately, said I wasn't a whore, and he told me that wasn't what he was offering me. He said that he could help me if I let him, and I was freezing and in need of somewhere to go, so I said sure and followed him. 

“Erik wasn't living here at the time, he didn't even own the place yet, was just the manager. So we went back to the apartment he was living in and he let me sleep in his bed that night while he slept on the sofa. The next morning he made me breakfast and asked me for my story, then he told me I could stay as long as I needed to. His apartment was quite far from where I worked so he drove me to work everyone morning, picked me up every afternoon. He took me to Station Thirty a lot, always gave me dinner on the house even though I'm sure the owner probably wouldn't have wanted him to. He offered me a job there too, but I didn't want to be a waiter, so I always turned him down. But he wouldn't let me let go of my dreams, just told me to adjust them. When he suggested that I audition for John, I wasn't sure I wanted to be rejected again. But he convinced me to at least give it a shot, so I did and John loved me. I couldn't believe that I'd actually be starring in something.

“But John said that I couldn't start until I cleaned myself up. He didn't want to deal with an addict. So I didn't know what to do. I certainly couldn't afford a trip to rehab. I talked to Erik about it and he told me he'd pay for it. I thought that was absurd but he was insistent, so I gave in and let him. Spent about two months in rehab before they let me go home, and I haven't touched any of that shit except a little bit of weed since. When it became obvious that John's show was going to take off and be something amazing, I was so happy. And then Erik found another pet project, so I asked him not to tell anyone that I had been one. There are some people that know, obviously. John, Bobby, Hank. But no one else but you now, and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want anyone to know how pathetic I was.

“But I needed Erik's help, Charles. I needed his help to get back to my supremely fabulous self. And I know that if you just let him help you, you'll be back to your supremely fabulous self too. I know that you're more fucked up than I ever was, and I know that what I went through isn't anywhere near as awful as what you did. I'm not trying to say that it was. But I am saying that Erik can help you. You just have to let him. And we all want you to let him. We all want you to start to let yourself heal. You're not doing that, darling. You just continuing to self-destruct. You have no idea how much it hurts to see you like this knowing that you could just say the word and then you'd get some help so that you're not. There. That's what I have to say.”

Charles sat there silently for a few minutes before looking over at Erik. “Okay, I listened. Now kick him out.”

“Charles,” Sebastian started, but Erik stood up and motioned for Sebastian to. 

“Let him think about everything you said alone, okay?” Erik said. “We'll go back down to the restaurant and get you that dinner you wanted.”

Sebastian stood there looking at Charles for a moment before nodding. “Okay. I'll go downstairs.”

“Thank you,” Erik said, turning to Charles. “If you want something to eat, Charles, just come down to my office, okay? I'll get the kitchen to make you something.”

“I think I'm just going to stay right here for now,” Charles said, closing his eyes. “I just want to lay on the floor and be fucked up for a while.”

Erik nodded reluctantly and then led Sebastian over to the door. When they were back downstairs, Erik turned to Sebastian and pulled him into a hug. “Thank you so much for doing that.”

“I'm only going to do that for him,” Sebastian murmured. “I'll never do that again.”

“That's alright,” Erik said, pulling back. “I'll never make you do it again. But I cannot tell you how important it was that you did that.”

“I just hope it helps. It really hurts to see Charles like that.”

“It hurts me too,” Erik said, taking a deep breath. “Let's go get you that dinner, okay? Order whatever you want, dessert too if you want it. It's all on me tonight.”

Sebastian smiled at him. “I am ordering the most expensive thing on the menu then.”

Erik laughed. “That's fine, Seb. Order whatever you want.”

“I will do that then.” Sebastian walked back into the restaurant and headed towards the table he always sat at. 

He sat down and grabbed the menu that he'd left there, taking a deep breath before beginning to peruse it. He'd done the right thing, he told himself. He'd never wanted anyone to know that story, but telling Charles had been the right thing. 

He just hoped that it helped.

**********

Scott and Jean walked up to the table that the waiter had shown them to, and Scott immediately pulled out a chair for Jean to sit in. She smiled at him as she sat down, and once he was seated on the other side of the table, he took a deep breath and tried to remember that they'd had dinner together, just the two of them, a lot.

But none of those dinners had been a date before and he was terrified of fucking it all up.

Jean took the menu from the waiter and opened it up, looking through her options. They made light talk with each other about what they were thinking of ordering until the waiter came back to get them, writing down what they wanted before taking the menus and walking away. They stared at each other and Jean felt the nerves flare up within her, though she wasn't exactly sure why. They'd had dinner like this several times before.

But none of those dinners had been a date before and she was terrified of fucking it all up.

“Thank you,” Scott started, taking a deep breath. “Thank you for everything you've done for Alex.”

“It was my pleasure,” Jean said, smiling at him. “I am just so happy that we've found him. I wish I could have told you about this months ago, but Ororo was quite insistent that it had to happen naturally. She thought Alex would run otherwise.”

“I can see that as a possibility. He's still incredibly skittish around me, even though I've done everything I can think of to tell him that I'm not ashamed by what he had to become to survive. I'm just happy he's not dead.”

Jean nodded. “How did your parents react to your phone call? I haven't heard yet.”

“I thought I'd told you this already,” Scott said, shaking his head. “Mom started crying. Dad was in shock. They wanted to get on a plane immediately but I told them that it needed to happen slowly. Alex is still convinced that he'll never be able to face them again. I'm sure that we'll get there someday. It just might be a while. I think perhaps talking on the phone might be a better place to start than a face to face meeting.”

“I think a phone call would be a good place to start too. We should maybe talk to Ororo about the best way to approach it. She'll probably know the right way to do it.”

“Good point,” Scott murmured. “I can't tell you how happy I am that he has her. I trust her so much. I'd be worried if he was working with a different psychologist.”

“I know what you mean. I think that telling Charles that I knew she'd be called in on this and that I trusted her so much was one of the reasons that he let me tell the police what was going on,” Jean said, taking a deep breath. “I knew that things were bad, but I didn't know they were as bad as what their testimony said. I am so glad that motherfucker is going to be in prison for the rest of his life.”

“I thought that life sentences weren't a possibility in this case,” Scott said, confused.

“They're not,” Jean confirmed. “But he will be sentenced to years in prison for each thing he was charged with, and then those sentences will be consecutive. I talked to the prosecutor and he said that he'll be pushing for the max and he thinks that he can get it based upon the magnitude of his crimes. Max for everything is sixty-nine years. With Cain's age being what it is, he'll be in prison for the rest of his life if they sentence him to the max.”

Scott breathed a sigh of relief. “I really hope that happens then. I know all three of them are worried about him getting out and finding them again. When is the sentencing?”

“In a week,” Jean said. “And then this will all be over. I'm really hoping that this sentencing helps them know that things really are over.”

“Me too,” Scott said, smiling at her. “But maybe we should talk about something else. We have done nothing but talk about this for weeks now. I'm sure that you weren't thinking that this was going to be the subject of our conversation when you said you wanted this dinner to be a date.”

Jean smiled back. “No, it wasn't. So let's talk about something else then. Get this relationship started right.”

“Relationship?” Scott asked, his heartbeat rising.

“This isn't going to be one date,” Jean said. “Unless you want it to be.”

“No,” Scott said quickly. “I want it more than anything.”

“Then when dinner is over we'll have to plan our second date.”

“I would really like that.”

Jean grinned. “Then let's find something else to talk about. Can I tell you about this case I'm working on right now? My client is being absurdly ridiculous. I'm pretty sure that they're guilty as sin but I have to try to convince a jury that they're not.”

Scott nodded. “You always hate cases like that. Talk away. I know that you always need to about cases like that.”

“Yeah, I really do.”


	21. Chapter 21

“Darwin.”

Darwin looked up from stashing his coat behind the counter to see Scott standing there, a concerned look on his face. “Is Alex okay? Did something happen?”

“No, no, Alex is fine,” Scott said, shaking his head. “The family session went well today. He wanted to know where you were though.”

“I'm not family,” Darwin said, reaching for an apron. “I don't feel like I should be there.”

“Darwin, for the last six years you've been all the family that he's had. Of course, you should be there. He wants you there and so do I.”

Darwin shook his head as he tied the apron on. “I highly doubt he considers me family.”

Scott observed him for a moment. “You think he doesn't love you anymore because he's got me now, don't you?”

Darwin stood there for a moment before sighing. “I wouldn't blame him if that was the case. I was your replacement. But he doesn't need that replacement anymore.”

Scott walked around the counter as Darwin reached for an order book, and when he was close enough, he pulled Darwin into a hug. “You mean so much to him, Darwin. He loves you so much. You are so much more than just my replacement.”

“I wish I could believe that,” Darwin murmured. “But I can't.”

“Why not?” Scott asked softly.

“Because if I was him, I wouldn't love me anymore,” Darwin said, working his way out of Scott's embrace. “Excuse me, but I need to get to work.”

Scott stood there as Darwin made his way around him, and he decided that he really needed to get to work on making not only Alex's life, but Darwin's life too, as good as he could possibly get them. He walked towards the offices, hoping that Erik was in his and knocking on the door. When he heard the permission, he went inside, sitting down in front of his desk.

Erik waited until he was finished typing out his email to Jean before turning towards Scott. “I've started the process to get Alex legal identification again. Once he gets out of rehab, we'll be able to get him a state issued ID card at the very least. I'm not sure if he ever had a driver's license.”

“He did, but not a New York one. I'm not sure if he'll remember enough to pass a driving test though, so the ID card will probably be the place to start,” Scott said, taking a deep breath. “I wanted to talk to you about him anyway. Well, him and Darwin.”

“Darwin doesn't seem to be doing too well without Alex,” Erik said. “How did the family session with you three go?”

“Darwin didn't go to it. Told me he doesn't think he belongs there because he's not family. I think the fact that Alex has been spending so much time with me and making major decisions with me and not him as gotten to him. He thinks he was my replacement and that he's not necessary now that Alex has me back. I don't know how to fix this without Alex here to tell him that he still is, and Alex isn't going to be back for a while.”

“Have they given you an estimate on how long he'll be there?”

“They said that given the level of his addiction and the depth of his need for it that it'll be three months at the minimum. If he seems ready for release before that then they think he'll likely be lying about things, which is why they want to keep him at least that long.”

Erik sat back and ran his hands over his face. “Fuck.”

“Pretty much,” Scott said, sighing. “I'm hoping that I can get Darwin to go in there for a family session before that, because if he doesn't, then Alex really is going to start thinking that Darwin doesn't care about him and doesn't need him, and that's not going to be good for when he gets out. I'm worried about the progress they'll make if they don't have each other.”

“Me too,” Erik murmured. “I'll work on Darwin. I can understand why he's having issues with this though.”

“I have something else about the two of them that I've been meaning to talk to you about,” Scott said, taking a deep breath. “I want to get them in a better apartment. The one that they're in right now is an absolute mess. Paint peeling, stains everywhere, and the absolute worst carpet I've ever seen. I know that they can't afford anywhere else, especially with Alex not providing any income, but I was wondering if maybe you would help me get them in a better place.”

“I thought you were the one who took care of that while I was gone.”

“I did tell Darwin to put me and Hank down as the references when they wanted to move out of the hotel, and he did, but he'd never said anything about the kind of place that they'd gone and I had no idea it was that bad,” Scott said. “I'm afraid that it might be a little too much like the environment they were in and I think that some progress might be made better if they were in a place that wasn't constantly reminding them of the hell they went through.”

“I think you're probably right about that,” Erik said, running his hands over his face. “I'll talk to Darwin about getting them a better place too. I'll tell him I'll pay for it, get them in a building where they aren't paying rent.”

Scott's eyes widened. “Erik, I wasn't talking about buying them a place in a building that nice. I was talking about getting them an apartment in a building that doesn't look like it needs to be torn down.”

“Yeah, well, those two deserve something like that so that's what they're going to get,” Erik said, smiling at him. “I'm buying Bobby and John that apartment they've been saving up for too. If I'd been around, John wouldn't have had to spend all that money trying to keep the shows going. I would have just hired him to take everything exclusive then. So I feel like that's my fault. Not making sure that Darwin and Alex ended up in a good one is my fault too. There are a lot of things that have happened that are my fault for not being here and I am trying to make up for it.”

Scott stared at him in shock. “Are you fucking serious?”

“I'm motherfucking serious,” Erik confirmed. “And we're going to have a discussion sometime about the fact that you're still living in that apartment that I told you that you weren't living in anymore. I don't care if I have to buy you an apartment too. You're fucking moving and that's an order.”

Scott let out a small laugh. “You really will do anything for us, won't you? It doesn't matter how much money it costs you.”

“Yes,” Erik said softly. “I will do anything for anyone of you who needs it whether that means I'm shelling out thousands for rehab or a new apartment or giving someone fifty bucks so they can refill their MetroCard. I will do absolutely anything for you. You are all I have.”

Scott smiled at him. “And we appreciate it, whether we let you know that often or not.”

“I know. And I don't need to be thanked for any of this stuff. I really don't.”

“Well, you're going to be about what you're doing for Darwin and Alex whether you want to be or not,” Scott said, standing up. “I'll let you tell Darwin all of that, okay? Once you get it all worked out with him, I'll tell Alex at our next family session.”

“Sounds good to me,” Erik said as Scott headed towards the door. “How was the date?”

Scott couldn't help the grin from crossing his face. “It was amazing. Next time we're going to the movies.”

Erik smiled back. “I'm happy for you, Scott. I know you've waited a long time for this.”

“I did, yes. And I'm going to make the most of this chance.”

“I know you are,” Erik said. “Now get back to work.”

Scott nodded and left the office, shaking his head at Erik's generosity. He couldn't wait for Alex and Darwin found out though. They deserved everything good in the world after what they'd been through. 

Scott was going to find some way to give it to them too.

**********

Peter walked around the counter to find Moira watching Emma and Angel having dinner with a sad look on her face. “What's wrong, Moira?”

“Nothing,” Moira said, quickly putting a smile on her face. “How was the movie the other night? I was thinking of seeing it.”

“Moira, what's wrong?” Peter said again. “Did you guys have a fight or something?”

“No, no,” Moira said, shaking her head. “Everything is fine.”

“I haven't seen you looking that sad in a long time. What is wrong?”

Moira stared at Peter for a moment before sighing heavily. “I just don't like watching them together. That's all.”

Peter gave her a confused look. “They're your girlfriends. How could you not like that?”

Moira was quiet for a moment. “I like Angel. I really do. She's fun to be around and all. But I'd rather have Emmie to myself,” she finally said. “But if having Angel being part of the equation is what I have to do to have Emmie back, then that's what I have to do. I'll deal with it. But I want Emmie, Peter. Only Emmie. And I don't know how to get past that.”

Peter leaned up against the counter next to her and watched Emma and Angel for a moment. “Why don't you just tell her that?”

“I'm afraid of what she'll say,” Moira admitted. “She was so happy with Angel before this whole thing with the three of us started, and I don't want to ruin that for her. I put her through fucking hell, Peter. All I really want for her is to be happy. I just wish it was with me and only me.”

“Well, I really have no idea what to tell you about that,” Peter said. “I can't even find a girlfriend of my own. But, if I were you, I'd just talk to Emma and let her know that. You never know what she might say.”

“Yes, I do,” Moira said, starting to walk towards where a customer had flagged her down. “And that's why I don't say anything.”

Peter watched her walk away before sighing heavily. There was entirely too much relationship drama going on around there for him to keep up with.

“Hey, kid,” John said, walking up to the counter and sitting down. “Can you get me some water?”

“Sure, Johnny,” Peter said, turning to get a glass. “How are things going?”

“Better now that your father is saving my ass, but that's just got me more stressed out than I was. There's so much to do to prepare and I don't know how I'll get it all done in time.”

Peter turned back to him and set the water down. “I'm sure that if you talked to Erik about it, he'll adjust the timeline or something. I can't imagine him being happy about you being under even more stress than you were.”

“You're probably right about that,” John said, fishing a bottle from his pocket and knocking a couple of pills out of it. He quickly took them with the water and then stood up, grabbing the glass. “I'll give you a tip for this later, okay? Remind me.”

“Okay,” Peter called out as John walked away, sighing heavily. He didn't know what to do about that drama either.

“You look lost in thought, Peter.”

Peter turned to see Erik standing there. “I'm just thinking about all the drama around here, that's all.”

“Yes, there does seem to be a lot of that at the moment, doesn't there?” Erik said, shaking his head. “What is the latest part of it that you're thinking about?”

“Johnny taking those pills. I just watched him take a couple of them.”

“You actually watched him take a couple of pills?”

Peter nodded. “Yup.”

“Motherfucker,” Erik said. “That's got to fucking stop.”

“I know it does, but I didn't know how to stop him.”

Erik put a hand on his shoulder. “Peter, don't worry about that, okay? Getting John to stop those pills is something that Bobby and I are going to do. But if you see him take them again, I want you to tell me.”

“I can do that,” Peter said, glancing over at Charles when he walked into the room. “You know what you're going to do about that yet?”

Erik looked over at Charles and shook his head. “It's over. That's all that matters.”

“Except it's not all that matters and you know it,” Peter said seriously. “He hurt you. I know he did. He's still hurting you because he's still doing the drugs.”

Erik turned his gaze back to Peter and he just shrugged. “I'm not an idiot, Erik. And I don't like seeing you hurt. I've seen enough of one of my mother being hurt over the years. I don't need to see you that way too.”

Erik reached out and pulled Peter into a hug. “Don't worry about me, alright? Things are going to be fine. Now get back to work”

Peter sighed as Erik walked away. He didn't want to deal with that drama either, but he had to. He wasn't going to let Charles hurt his father any more than he already had.

Now if he only knew what to do about it.

**********

Sebastian looked up when someone sat down across from him, a brilliant smile crossing his face when he noticed it was Charles. “Hello, darling.”

“I have one question and one question only. You will answer it honestly and then I will decide if I want to start speaking to you again,” Charles said seriously.

Sebastian nodded. “I will answer anything you want, darling.”

“Did you fuck Erik?”

“Excuse me?”

“When you were a pet project,” Charles clarified. “Did you fuck Erik?”

“No,” Sebastian said, shaking his head. “I didn't.”

“And you're being honest?”

“Yes.”

“So if I ask Erik the same question, he'll answer the same way?”

“Yes,” Sebastian said, nodding. “I wouldn't lie to you about that, darling. You know I have no problems talking about who I've fucked and who I haven't.”

“So, have you fucked him since you stopped being a pet project?”

“No,” Sebastian said, shaking his head. “Erik took on too much of a fatherly role during that time of my life to even think about it. I don't want to fuck my father.”

Charles sat there for a couple of minutes before sighing heavily. “I'm still fucking furious with you.”

“I can tell, darling. But I honestly didn't mean to hurt you when I punched him,” Sebastian said. “That was a combination of my anger at him ditching me for nine months as much as it was my anger for what he did to you by being gone for nine months. But don't tell anyone I told you that. I'd much rather them think that I don't care about Erik.”

“Why?” Charles asked. “Why are you so secretive about that time in your life?”

Sebastian leaned back in the bench and sighed. “Because it makes me feel like a failure still. Sometimes I still feel like a fraud for doing what I'm doing in John's shows. This was never my dream.”

“This wasn't my dream either.”

“What was your dream?” Sebastian asked, and Charles smiled slightly.

“You really want to know?”

“Yes.”

Charles paused for a few moments. “I wanted to be a geneticist.”

“A what? I don't know what that is.”

“It's a scientist that focuses on genetics,” Charles explained. “I wanted to try to understand why certain people get cancer because I thought that if I could understand that then maybe I could understand why my father was taken away from me when I was so young. That there was some sort of actual, tangible reason for it that had nothing to do with random fucking horrible luck.”

Sebastian smiled at him. “It sounds like you have to be very smart to do something like that.”

“I used to be,” Charles said quietly. “Straight A student, in advanced classes, and then my mother was a motherfucking bitch and now all of this has happened. Anyway, I just wanted to know the answer to my question. I'll think about whether or not I want to start speaking to you again.”

Sebastian started to say something but Charles just got up and walked away, heading towards the door that headed down into the club. He really needed a drink. 

Jubilee and Kitty looked up when he walked into the club, and Jubilee reached for the vodka before Charles even got to the bar. Charles watched her do it, and then the thought that he probably was an alcoholic on top of an addict when through his brain, and then the thought that he should probably get some help with that entered it.

Fuck, he'd been thinking of things like that entirely too much ever since Erik broke things off. He needed this stuff. He really did.

Or maybe he didn't.

He shoved that thought out of his mind as Jubilee slid a glass across the bar, and he knocked it back before saying something. “Thank you, Jubes.”

“No problem, sweetie,” Jubilee said, refilling his glass. “How's the day going?”

Charles knocked that back before answering. “I have a question for you two.”

“Ask away then,” Kitty said, smiling at him. “You know we'll answer if we can.”

Charles knocked back another one before taking a deep breath. “Do you think I can believe Sebastian if he tells me that he hasn't fucked someone?”

Jubilee laughed. “What do you want to know that for?”

“Just answer my question, please.”

“I think you probably can,” Kitty said, walking down to where they were. “I mean, he crows enough about who it is that he does fuck that I'm sure he'd tell you if he'd fucked someone. He'd be fucking proud of that.”

“I think the only person I know of that Sebastian has fucked that he hasn't gone around bragging about is you,” Jubilee said, refilling his glass again. “We had no idea that you two were fucking until right before Erik came back.”

Charles sighed and knocked back the drink. “I don't know if I can believe him though. I feel like there might be an ulterior motive behind his answer ever since I heard that he thinks he's in love with me.”

“Did you want to know if he's fucked Erik?” Kitty asked, shaking her head when Charles turned to look at her. “You've got to realize that we all know you two have started fucking, right? Because we do.”

At the mention of that, Charles felt his eyes fill with tears. “No, we're not.”

“Sure you're not, sweetie,” Jubilee said, refilling his glass again. “Charles, you don't have to lie about it. It's okay.”

“No, we're really not,” Charles said, knocking back the glass. “Not anymore.”

Kitty frowned. “Not anymore? Why did you stop?”

Charles felt the tears start to slip down his cheeks. “Because he doesn't want anything to do with an addict.”

“Oh, honey,” Jubilee said, ducking underneath the bar and pulling Charles into her arms. “You can't blame him. Erik hates drugs.”

“I know he does,” Charles said, burying his face in her neck. “But I need them.”

“No, you really don't,” Jubilee said softly. “You've got all of us here to help you through things, Charles. But you don't use any of us for that. You just use the drugs. And as long as you keep using the drugs, you're never going to heal.”

“Why not?” Charles practically sobbed.

“Because they're a lingering memory of him. He's the one who got you started, he's the one who got you hooked, and he's the reason you need them now. You're never going to get over what he did to you unless you stop doing them.”

Charles let all of that sink into his brain before pulling back. “You really think that?”

Jubilee reached up to wipe away his tears. “I do, sweetie. Everyone here does. It's one of the reasons that Alex is in rehab right now. It's one of the reasons that Darwin is coping so much better than you are. They're letting go of that lingering bit of what he did to them so that they can move on and heal. You're not doing that.”

Charles took a couple of deep breaths before smiling shakily. “Thanks, Jubes.”

“Anytime,” Jubilee said, smiling at him. “Want another drink?”

Charles shook his head. “I think I'm going to go to sleep. I barely slept last night.”

“Then I think taking a nap is a good idea,” Kitty said, drawing Charles's attention to her. “Sleep deprivation isn't good for anyone.”

Charles nodded and walked away, heading up to the apartment. He went into his room and sat on the edge of the bed, thinking about everything that Jubilee had said before looking over at where the drugs sat on top of the dresser. He stared at them for several minutes before taking a couple of deep breaths. 

He stood up and looked over at the dresser gain before pulling the sheets back, climbing into the bed and closing his eyes. 

One day. He was going to start with one day and see how it went from there. And maybe by the end of that one day he'd feel like agreeing to what Erik had said.


	22. Chapter 22

John walked into Bobby's office and shut the door, turning to face him. “Where the fuck have you been?”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Bobby said without looking up. “Please leave so I can get this work done before the club opens.”

“I am talking about the fact that you haven't been home in a week,” John said seriously. “And I know that this is over the fucking phone call that I never should have told you about.”

“No, you should have told me about it eight months ago,” Bobby said, still not looking up at him. “And I have been home in the past week. You have just not been there when I was.”

“Fucking hell, baby. Why are you turning this into something bigger than it needs to be?”

“Because it is this big and you're just refusing to see it,” Bobby said, finally looking up at him. “I want to know who that phone call was with. I want to know who the motherfucker that is ruining my marriage is. And I am not coming home until you tell me what is really going on. You can stop lying to me about the pills while you're at it. Peter told me you took some of them right in front of him.”

John closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. “You will not understand and so I'm not answering your question. And I'm not lying about the fucking pills.”

Bobby stared at him for a moment before swallowing hard, realizing that he was going to have to go with the ultimatum he least wanted to give. “Then I'll have Jean start divorce proceedings.”

John's eyes flew open. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“You can't possibly mean that,” John said, his eyes filling with tears.

“I mean it more than I can possibly express,” Bobby murmured. “Don't do this to me. Don't do this to us.”

John stood there for a moment before reaching up to wipe the tears away. “You won't understand.”

“I still want to know who called, Johnny. It doesn't matter if I will understand or not.”

John felt a tear slip down his cheek and he reached up to wipe that away too. “I don't know how to talk to you about this because there is no possible way for you to understand.”

“I can't possibly understand if you don't give me the chance to,” Bobby said softly. “Give me the chance.”

“I can't,” John breathed out. “I just can't.”

“Then we're done,” Bobby got out, his throat tighter than he ever remembered it being. “I will not be in a relationship with someone who won't be honest with me. You've already lied to me enough. I'm not going to let you lie to me even more.”

“Baby,” John started. “You can't actually mean that.”

“I have to do this. It's the only way. I won't stand by and let this happen to me again. So, go be with whoever he is. I can't even begin to believe this phone call bullshit anymore.”

“It's not bullshit!” John exclaimed. “I got a motherfucking phone call that has fucked me up beyond belief and I don't want to fucking talk about it. That's all this is.”

“If you can't motherfucking talk to me about this then we are done. You are supposed to talk to me about anything, John. Anything. I do that with you but it has become increasingly clear recently that you don't do that with me. It doesn't matter how much this will kill me. You either tell me what is happening or I'm filing for divorce.”

John watched him with hurt eyes, and Bobby almost gave in, but then John spoke. “If that's what you want to do, then fine. I don't want to cause you any more pain and apparently you've finally reached the breaking point. Tell Jean that the divorce will be uncontested. I'll give you whatever you want. But know that I'm going to love you forever.”

“Johnny,” Bobby said, his heart breaking at the tone of John's voice.

John just shook his head. “I can't tell you,” he whispered. “I just can't.”

John turned and left the office, shutting the door behind him and leaning up against the wall. He was sobbing into his hands before he even realized it, the pain of losing Bobby worse than he had ever imagined it would be. Everything had been fucked up since the lousy motherfucker had called him and now it had cost him everything just like he'd expected it would.

John didn't notice when the door opened, but he went willingly into Bobby's arms once he felt them embrace him. He buried his face in Bobby's neck and cried harder than he ever had before. He didn't know how he was going to live without him. He really didn't.

“Shh, Johnny,” Bobby soothed, brushing a kiss along his temple. “It's okay. Whatever it is, it's going to be okay.”

“I hate him,” John sobbed. “I hate him for what he can still do to me. I hate how he's going to cost me everything.”

“Who, Johnny?” Bobby asked, though he was starting to suspect that he already knew the answer. “You just have to tell me who. We can talk about the rest of it when you're ready to, but right now I need you to tell me who it is.”

John got his emotions back under control and pulled back, wiping at his eyes to stop the tears from coming back. “You still won't understand. You grew up in a happy family. Now he's going to ruin my attempt to finally have one of my own, just like he's ruined everything else.”

“Johnny,” Bobby said, but John just walked away.

He'd said enough though. Bobby knew exactly who it was that had called now. The one person that could destroy John with just a few simple words.

John's father.

The fact that John was self-destructing made perfect sense now. Bobby could only imagine how that phone call had gone. Whatever it was that his father had said didn't really matter. The fact that his father had found him again had done enough damage. Nothing about John's father was ever good. He was the reason they had left Los Angeles in the first place. John had to be in a place where his father couldn't find him.

And now he had.

Bobby wanted to chase after John and tell him that he understood the reason for why he was so fucked up, but he knew it would fall on deaf ears. John wasn't going to listen to a thing Bobby had to say on the subject. He knew John was convinced that this phone call was going to cost him everything, so Bobby would just have to convince him that it wouldn't. Prove to him that he wasn't going anywhere despite his earlier threats.

That was going to be much harder to do than think, Bobby knew. The pills had to stop too, and he knew John wasn't going to listen to him about that either. 

Bobby didn't know what to do. But he was going to go home that night and try.

**********

Charles looked up when Jean sat down across from him, shaking his head. “I'm not ready to get the inheritance.”

“I know that, but I thought that we could at least progress one step in that direction,” Jean said, reaching into her bag and pulling out an envelope. “Mr. Trask said that this was left for you to be opened after you came into your inheritance. He thought that it might make you feel like going through with accepting everything if you read it.”

Jean held out the envelope and Charles shook his head. “I have no desire to hear anything that my mother had to say to me.”

“It's not from your mother,” Jean said softly. “It was left for you by your father.”

“My father?” Charles asked, suddenly feeling shaky. “Really?”

Jean nodded and Charles stared at the envelope for a moment before tentatively taking it from her. “I don't know that I want to read this after everything that I've become.”

“I think it might actually do you some good to read it,” Jean said, standing up. “And I'm going to let you do that by yourself. I'll be out in the restaurant having dinner if you want to come find me after you do. Let me know what you think about accepting the inheritance then. If I don't see you before I leave, then I'll call tomorrow.”

Charles nodded and Jean walked out of the office. He turned his attention to the envelope in his hands, his heart aching at the sight of his name written in his father's careful script on the front of it. He sat there and stared at it for a long time before sliding his chair back and standing up. If he was going to read it, he wasn't going to read it in his office. 

He made his way up to the apartment and looked over at where the door to Erik's room was shut. He knew Erik probably wouldn't mind if Charles woke him up for something as important as this, but things between them were entirely too weird at that moment for him to even consider it. He walked into his room and shut the door, locking it for good measure. 

Whatever it was that his father had said to him was something that he was going to have to face alone.

Charles sat down on the bed and stared at the envelope some more, as though that could somehow tell him what the letter inside said. His father had clearly written it knowing that he wouldn't have the time to teach Charles everything he needed to know as the sole Xavier heir, something his mother had tried to teach him before he'd run away to the city. All of that had pretty much left his head though, along with any sense Charles had at ever being someone who wasn't an addict and a whore, and he closed his eyes at the thought of what his father must think of him now.

His father must be absolutely horrified of what Charles had let himself become.

Charles could hear Ororo's voice in his head, hear her telling him that he hadn't let himself become anything. He had been forced into this life in an attempt to survive and now he didn't have to live that life anymore. He wasn't a whore anymore. He could make the choice not to be an addict anymore as well. He could choose a better life for himself than the life that he was allowing himself to live. 

Charles took a deep breath and turned the envelope over, sliding his pinky finger underneath the flap and tearing it open. He took another deep breath before pulling the letter out, his eyes focusing in on the stamp of his father's stationary and then filling with tears. His father used to write to him on that stationary all the time, everything from long letters about how proud he was of one of Charles's achievements to little notes that he'd slip underneath the door of Charles's bedroom before he went on a business trip. Charles had kept every single one of them and had them all stored away in a special place in the bedroom that used to be his.

He wondered if they were still there.

Charles reached up and wiped the tears out of his eyes before unfolding the letter. More of his father's careful script came into view and he took a deep breath before he began to read. It took him five attempts at reading it before he made it through to the end, each of the previous four having ended with him sobbing into his hands, but once he had read the whole thing, Charles didn't know what to feel.

His father thought that Charles had been his greatest achievement. That none of the professional accolades that he had received would ever mean as much to him as Charles did. That no matter what it was that he was doing at the time of reading this letter, his father would be proud. It did not matter if Charles was a chimney sweep, an obvious reference to the fact that they'd watched _Mary Poppins_ together entirely too many times when he was a child, and one that made Charles's lips curl into a wry smile. No matter what it was Charles was doing, Brian Xavier was proud of him. 

Charles couldn't help but think that there was no way that he possibly could be. A chimney sweep would have been far preferable to the life that he'd lived.

The part that got to Charles the most though was the part when his father had written about his belief in God. Charles had never been particularly religious and he didn't think his father had been either, but his father was quite insistent that God had put him on the path that he was on and that He had put Charles on whatever path he was on too. There was absolutely no way that he could believe that God had put him on this path. No fucking way.

Except this path had led him to Genosha. Genosha meant everything to Charles now. The people here meant everything to him. 

Erik meant everything to him.

Charles carefully folded up the letter and placed it back into its envelope. He placed it on the bedside table before standing up and heading towards his dresser. The drugs he'd come to need were sitting on top of it, and he took a deep breath before turning towards the door. 

His father would definitely not approve of that.

He made his way downstairs and into the restaurant, finding Jean alone in one of the booths and heading towards her. She looked up when he was close and motioned for him to join her, and then Charles slid into the booth and swallowed hard. “Do I have to go back home for this?”

“Charles, you don't have to do anything if you don't want to,” Jean said seriously. “This estate just needs to be settled. Erik has made it very clear to you that you wouldn't have to leave if you got your inheritance.”

“I meant to get it,” Charles said, his hands trembling. “Do I have to go home to get it?”

“No,” Jean said softly. “Mr. Trask has already made it very clear that he will come here to the city to settle this. You would have to sign a bunch of papers that he has for you and then he'll give me all the information on how to access everything. If you want me to keep that information until you ask for it, then that's what I'll do. But you need to do this, Charles. It's important.”

“My father,” Charles murmured. “It really meant a lot to him that I was going to inherit everything. That was obvious just from reading the letter but he'd said it to me in the days leading up to his death too. So, if it meant that much to him for me to have it, then I will accept it. But I don't want anyone else to know that I've done this. Not even Erik. I want them to find out from me, not from you.”

“Then I won't say a word,” Jean said seriously. “I promise. But I will call Mr. Trask and get everything set up. I'll let you know when that is and you can tell Erik you need that afternoon off so you can do this. You don't have to tell him that it's this though. You can tell him whatever you want.”

“I'd tell him why. I just don't want anyone else telling him before I do.”

Jean nodded. “Then I'll get something set up for you. And I will be right there next to you the entire time. I won't leave you to do this alone.”

“Thank you, Jean,” Charles murmured. “I really mean that.”

“I'd do anything to help you, Charles. I hope you realize that.”

“I'm starting to.” Charles stood up. “Thank you for bringing me that letter, Jean. It means a lot to me to have it.”

“I'm sure it meant a lot to your father for you to have it too.”

“Yes,” Charles said, his throat suddenly tight. “I think it did.”

“Then I'm glad that you have that piece of him,” Jean said, looking around Charles when she heard her name. “Oh, that's my food.”

“Then I'll let you eat in peace,” Charles said, giving Darwin a shaky smile as he walked away from the table. 

Charles made his way back to his office and tried to concentrate on the work that was in front of him, but his mind was on that letter upstairs. On the words that his father had written him. 

Maybe his father was right about it all. Maybe he really was his father's greatest achievement. Maybe God really had put him on this path.

Maybe accepting his inheritance was step one to becoming free of everything he once was. 

Maybe getting off the drugs was step two. 

He hadn't had a hit in almost seventy-two hours, and while he'd gone that long without one before, something about this time felt different. There was a real purpose to not taking the hits when he had the drugs ready and waiting to serve up one. There was almost a desire to prove that he didn't need them the way Erik thought that he did.

Except it wasn't Erik that thought he needed them. He thought the exact opposite.

Erik didn't know that he'd been doing this. He was avoiding talking to Erik as much as possible. He wanted to talk to him more than anything, wanted to beg him to have things go back to the way they were, wanted to tell him that he wanted Erik to fall in love with him the way he was in love with Erik. But he wasn't ready to do what he needed to do.

Charles wasn't ready to let go of them completely. He wasn't ready to go stay in some facility and have people he'd never met try to teach the need for them out of him. He wasn't ready for any of that. But he also knew that unless he did that then he'd never get to have Erik the way he wanted him again. 

Charles had a big decision to make.


	23. Chapter 23

Sebastian shook his head as he sat down at the counter, glancing back across the room where Emma, Moira, and Angel were. “I really hope that doesn't turn into a disaster.”

“Why would you care?” Sean asked, drawing Sebastian's attention back to him. “You only care about yourself.”

“That is not motherfucking true and you know it,” Sebastian said, nodding when Sean held up a coffee cup. “And I am worried that Angel is going to do the same thing she did the last time she hooked up with a waitress here. I wasn't too concerned about it when this was just a casual thing but it seems to be far more serious than I was giving it credit for.”

“Angel's hooked up with a waitress here before?” Sean said as he set a full cup in front of Sebastian. “I didn't know that.”

“It was before you were around,” Sebastian explained. “And Angel destroyed her.”

“Is this why Erik doesn't like her?”

Sebastian nodded. “And I don't blame him for that. I'm not her biggest fan either.”

“Tell me the story?” Sean asked. “I've been dying for Erik to tell me but he won't.”

Sebastian sat there for a moment before huffing. “He should be warning everyone that this is going to happen so that you're prepared for the aftermath, so yes, I'll tell you. But only if you make me breakfast.”

“Happily,” Sean said. “What do you want?”

“Denver omelet,” Sebastian said automatically. “What else do I order when I'm in here for breakfast?”

“Just thought you might want some variation,” Sean said, turning to start making it. “Talk.”

“Angel came in here a lot as a patron and started flirting with Julia. Then they started dating and everything seemed really great. They seemed really in love. But one day Julia came into work a mess because Angel had completely disappeared on her. Empty apartment, disconnected phone number, no longer working where she said she'd been. Just completely and totally gone. By the time that Angel came in here again, it had been a long time since Julia had stopped working here, and then she started her fling with Emma but it was clearly not serious so no one thought anything of it. When their relationship got serious while Erik was gone, Angel told me that she'd never do that to anyone again, she just felt trapped with Julia and didn't know how to get out of it. I can't believe her though.”

Sean's eyes were wide when he turned back around. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Sebastian shook his head. “Nope.”

“Have you told Emma or Moira that?”

“You try talking to them about Angel. The moment you say her name, they just start going on about how wonderful she is and how great everything is, and then I just don't want to ruin that for them if Angel really is as reformed as she says she is. But Erik doesn't trust her and neither do I.”

“I don't even know what the fuck to say about that,” Sean said, turning back to the grill. “I really don't.”

Sebastian went to respond but Moira walked around the counter, putting a slip into the row above the grill. “Order, Sean.”

“I'll do it in a minute. Just finishing up Sebastian's omelet.”

Moira looked over at him and smiled. “Nice to see you, Seb. How's things going?”

“They'd be going better if Charles talked to me, that's for sure,” Sebastian said, looking over and where Charles had just come into the room. “I thought we were getting somewhere after Erik had me talk to him but I guess not.” 

Moira frowned. “Why would Erik have you talk to Charles? You hate Erik.”

Sebastian sighed heavily as he realized what he said. “I don't hate Erik. I've known Erik longer than any of you. I hate what he did to Charles while he was gone, and he's not exactly doing much to get him to stop now that he is back.”

“That's fucking bullshit,” came Erik's voice, and Sebastian jumped. “And you fucking know it.”

Sebastian sighed as Erik sat down next to him, ignoring the way that Moira and Sean were watching them carefully. “You know why I'm saying that.”

“And you know that it's fucking bullshit,” Erik said strongly. “I have been working my ass off trying to get Charles to see that rehab is the answer but he's refusing to admit that he needs it.”

“Is that why you two quit fucking?” Sean asked, rolling his eyes when Erik glared at him. “What? We can all tell, honey.”

Erik ran his hands over his face. “Yes, that's why that's ended. I will not be in a relationship with an addict.”

“Relationship?” Sebastian scoffed. “You two do not have a relationship. Charles and I had a relationship.”

“No, you were a distraction while I was gone, and once Charles decides to start speaking to you again, he will tell you the same thing,” Erik said patiently. “And we need to talk about this ridiculousness about you being in love with Charles too. You have no idea what love is, Seb. You have an infatuation with him like you always do when you latch onto someone for more than a night. That's all.”

“That is not true,” Sebastian said firmly. “I am in love with Charles.”

“No, baby, you're really not,” Erik said, shaking his head when Sebastian looked at him. “I need you to trust me on that one before you really fuck up your friendship with Charles permanently.”

“I am not going to do that.”

“Yes, you really are.”

Sebastian's attention was drawn back to Sean as he set a plate down in front of him. “For what it's worth, Seb, I agree with Erik. You're not in love.”

“You have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I know exactly what I'm talking about,” Sean said seriously. “I've been in love before. The only person you're capable of loving is yourself. Besides, how many guys have you fucked since you and Charles stopped fucking?”

“I don't know, fifteen?” Sebastian said, making all of them laugh.

“If you were really in love with him, sweetie, you wouldn't be fucking other guys,” Moira said, shaking her head and pushing away from the counter when she saw a table flag her down. “Excuse me.”

Sebastian sat there for a moment before turning to Erik. “Is she being serious?”

“Completely serious, Seb. If you were really in love with Charles, you wouldn't be fucking other guys.”

“But he's mad at me.”

“And if you were really in a relationship with him, fucking other guys would not be the way to get him back.”

Sebastian stared at him for a moment before turning to his omelet and picking up his fork. “Huh.”

“We all keep telling you that you have a lot to learn about relationships, baby,” Sean said. “Even Charles has told you that. You've never been in one and you're definitely not in love with Charles.”

Sebastian frowned and put his head down, concentrating on his omelet. Erik watched him for a few minutes before putting his arm around Sebastian's shoulders. “Seb, do you trust me?”

“Yes,” he said quietly, not wanting Sean to hear.

“Then you need to trust me when I tell you that you're not in love with Charles. I'm not trying to say that you're not capable of loving someone because I know that someday you will. But it's not Charles.”

“You're not just saying that so you can fuck him again?”

“I'm not just saying that so I can fuck him again,” Erik said seriously. “I promise.”

“Fine,” Sebastian breathed out. “I just want him to talk to me again, Erik.”

“I know, baby. I'll work on getting him to, okay? He doesn't need to be this mad at you for this long.”

“Thank you,” Sebastian mumbled. “Now let me eat my omelet in peace.”

Erik nodded and let go of him, looking up at Sean with a smile. “How about you make me an omelet, baby? And Seb's is on the house today. You better leave him a tip though, Seb.”

“I will,” Sebastian said, looking up at Sean with a smile. “So long as he agrees to keep what we were talking about a secret.”

Sean sighed heavily but nodded. “I'll keep it a secret. But I think everyone should know.”

“They will eventually, baby. It'll be necessary.” Sebastian looked back at where Emma was sitting with Angel. “And I really, really hope I'm wrong about that.”

**********

“We need to talk about these.”

John turned around and saw Bobby standing there with a bottle of caffeine pills in his hand, so he just turned around and went back to going over the plans for the show that night. “I'm surprised that you care. After all, you're the one that wants to divorce me.”

Bobby sighed heavily and walked into the dressing room, pulling John away from his paperwork. “I do not want to divorce you. Stop thinking that.”

“Then why the fuck did you threaten me with that?” John exclaimed. “Losing you is my worst fucking nightmare, baby! He's already almost cost me you once. You can't tell me that he's not costing me you again.”

“Yes, I can,” Bobby said, pulling John into his arms and resting his head against John's shoulder. “I love you more than anything or anyone, Johnny. I never want to lose you either. I just needed you to know how serious I was about you needing to tell me what is going on. You still haven't. You just know that I've figured it out.”

John sighed and leaned his head against Bobby's. “Don't ever threaten me with that again,” he whispered. “Please.”

“I won't,” Bobby murmured. “I promise.”

They stood there in silence for a long time before John sighed heavily. “He keeps calling. He tries to tell me that he's cleaned himself up,” he said softly. “He's in New York and wants to meet up and apologize in person for everything, and I just...he's done this to me so many times. And I can't see him without talking about Mom and that just makes him fucking angry like it's not his fault that she's dead, and...”

A sob escaped him instead of the next word and John buried his face in Bobby's neck and let himself cry. Bobby held him as close as he could and ran a soothing hand down John's back, silently cursing John's father for doing this to him again.

It had taken John nearly a year to tell Bobby the truth about why he couldn't meet his mother, and then it had taken him another six months before he told Bobby the truth about the accident. His parents would fight whenever his father was drunk and high, but his mother would always forgive him once he was sober. When the fights started turning physical when John was almost a teenager, he begged his mother to leave him, but she wouldn't. Then came the night when he knocked her into the corner of the kitchen counter and split her forehead open, blood rushing out of the wound.   
His mother needed to go to the emergency room but John was too young to drive and his father was too fucked up to do it. So, John called for an ambulance despite his father's protests, but by the time that the paramedics reached them, she'd lost too much blood and died at the scene. John was twelve when it happened, and despite the fact that it was all his father's fault, he was never charged. John had always felt that he'd gotten away with her murder and he would never forgive his father for it.

But despite that, John had loved his father. Always had, and probably always wouls. That's why he'd always gone to meet him when his father said he was sober and wanted to apologize. Why he'd always gone back even when he knew that his father was lying to him. But after their relationship had gotten really serious and John had come home from a meeting with his father not only broken emotionally, but with a broken cheekbone and dislocated shoulder, Bobby knew that John being around him was not something that he was going to allow to continue. It took some convincing, and Bobby had nearly ended things between them a couple of times in the process because he couldn't put up with that bullshit, but eventually John had realized that his father was nothing but a toxic presence that was keeping him from actually being happy. 

They'd moved to New York to escape from him three weeks later. It didn't matter how much money they had to pay to get out of their lease, it didn't matter that they had nowhere to live and no jobs lined up either, they just had to get out of there. They ended up in the East Village that first night and went into Station Thirty to have dinner, and there they met Erik.

And Erik saved them.

“It's okay, Johnny,” Bobby soothed. “I promise you, it's okay. He can't find you. He can't.”

“He knew enough to find my number,” John got out. “How can you tell me that he can't find me in person.”

Bobby turned and pressed a kiss to John's temple. “I guess I can't. But he has no idea how to find us here. He might have just gotten your number from someone in Los Angeles that he knew is your friend. I think they'd all know better than to tell them exactly where you are.”

John didn't say anything and Bobby cursed his father again. “Whatever happens, I'm not going anywhere. I promise. I know that you've been questioning that since I threatened it but I promise you, I'm not going anywhere. Even if he shows up here, he's not going to take you away from me.”

“I don't want him to hurt you,” John murmured. “I'm so scared of him hurting you.”

“He's not going to hurt me,” Bobby said, squeezing John. “And he's not going to hurt you either.”

John sucked in a couple of deep breaths. “I don't know if I can live there anymore. Not when he's potentially got that address. But I've had to spend so much money to keep the shows afloat that we don't have the money to go anywhere else. I don't know what to do.”

“I do.”

They broke apart to see Erik standing there, and Bobby wondered how much of that he'd just overheard. “Erik.”

“Pick out your apartment,” Erik said. “I'm buying it for you.”

Bobby's eyes widened but John just shook his head. “No, Erik.”

“Yes, Johnny,” Erik said firmly. “You'd already have that place if I'd been here and you'd mentioned what was going on sooner. If that had happened, then I would have had you bring the shows here exclusively sooner, and you'd be in that new apartment. So pick the apartment and I'm motherfucking buying it.”

“Erik,” Bobby started but Erik cut him off.

“I am not about to let your dreams die, Bobby. Nor am I going to let you stay at that apartment if there's a chance that your father knows you're there, John. I'm sorry for overhearing all of that but fuck if I'm going to let him hurt you two any more when I can do something about it. Pick out the fucking apartment. That's an order.”

Erik turned around and left before either of them could say a word, and John let out a small laugh. “That wasn't something I was expecting.”

“It wasn't something I was expecting either,” Bobby said, shaking his head. “It's a totally Erik thing to do though. It's exactly something he would do.”

“Yeah, it is,” John said, taking a deep breath before reaching for the pills in Bobby's hands. “Fucking hell, baby, give me the pills.”

“There is not a motherfucking chance in hell that I'm letting you do this anymore,” Bobby said seriously. “I might know the reason why now, and I might understand the reason why now, but you're not fucking doing this shit anymore.”

“Baby,” John tried, but Bobby glared at him. 

“You already have broken the promise you made me about stopping these fucking pills. You are really fucking stopping them this time.”

John closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You don't understand.”

“Maybe not, but you're not doing this shit anymore, or I really will get serious about that divorce threat. I thought I made it very clear to you at the beginning of our relationship that indulging every once and a while is okay but I will not be involved with a fucking addict. Caffeine pills or not, you're turning into a fucking addict and I don't like it.”

John took another couple of deep breaths before opening his eyes and nodding. “Okay, I'll stop. But that might mean that if he calls me again that I'll be indulging in something that is more illegal.”

“Indulging for a night is fine,” Bobby said. “But only for a night. And we're changing your phone number. He doesn't need to be calling you anymore.”

John stared at Bobby for a moment before nodding again. “Okay, we'll go tomorrow and get my number changed on the way here. And I promise it would only be an indulgence of a night. I don't want to end up like Charles is.”

“I don't want you to either,” Bobby said, sticking the bottle into his pocket when John reached for it again. “Tell me where else the pills are. I know you've been hiding them from me for a long time.”

“In my bag,” John murmured. “And if that's the bottle from home then that's it.”

Bobby walked over to John's bag and dug through it, finding the bottle of pills. “And the one in your pocket,” he demanded, walking over to him and holding out his hand. “Because I know there is one.”

John swallowed hard but reached into his pocket, pulling the bottle out and putting it in Bobby's hand. “That's all of them.”

“You swear?”

“I swear.”

Bobby nodded and stuffed the bottles into his pockets before reaching for John again. “I love you, Johnny. Let me help you through this instead of hiding it from me.”

John let Bobby pull him into a kiss before drawing him into another one. “I love you too, baby. And I'll try.”

“Do or do not, Johnny. There is no try,” Bobby said as he headed towards the door, making John burst out laughing.

“Yoda? You're pulling Yoda out on me?”

“Why not?” Bobby said, stopping at the door and smiling. “He's wise.”

John just rolled his eyes and waved Bobby away. “Get back to work so that you're done early enough tonight that we can fuck before we need to go to sleep.”

Bobby grinned. “Oh, we're fucking, whether that means we're exhausted tomorrow from not getting enough sleep or not.”

John grinned back and then Bobby left the room, leaning up against the wall once the door was closed and running his hands over his face. John's father calling was never a good thing, but now that Bobby knew that he'd been calling for months, he wasn't sure how long it was going to take for John to heal this time. He had no idea where to even start when trying to help. Absolutely no idea.


	24. Chapter 24

Charles took a deep breath and knocked on the door to Erik's office, waiting until he heard the permission before entering. Erik looked up at him as Charles closed the door behind himself, and Charles took another deep breath before sitting down in front of the desk. “I need to ask you a question.”

Erik put down the pen he was holding and folded his arms on the desk, trying to gauge what it was Charles was about to ask him. “Alright, what is it?”

Charles swallowed hard and thought about how he'd like to phrase things. “Jean has been talking to the lawyer in charge of my inheritance again, and he gave her a letter that had been left for me. She gave it to me a week ago and I read it, and because of that I have agreed to accept my inheritance.”

Erik smiled. “That's wonderful, Charles. May I ask who the letter was from?”

“My father,” Charles managed to get out. “And that's all I'd like to say about it.”

Erik nodded. “Then I won't ask about it again.”

“Maybe someday we can talk about it, because I can't really believe some of the things that he wrote in there, but I think I'm going to talk to Ororo about it first.”

“Whatever you want to do, Charles. Your decisions are entirely your own.”

Charles nodded. “Jean has set up a meeting with Trask for tomorrow afternoon, and I need to be there to sign a bunch of papers or something, so I was wondering if I could have the afternoon off.”

“Of course you can,” Erik said, his eyes focused on Charles's hands and how they were trembling. “Were you really so nervous to come ask me that your hands are shaking? I was always going to be happy to do something like this for you.”

Charles immediately shoved his hands behind his back so Erik couldn't see them. “I...no. They're not shaking because I'm nervous.”

Erik stared at him for a moment. “You need me to get more drugs for you, don't you?”

Charles shook his head. “No, I still have some.”

“Then why are your hands shaking?”

Charles closed his eyes and decided that he had no choice but to tell him. “They are shaking because I haven't had a hit in a while, that's all.”

“When was the last time you had one?” Erik asked, refusing to let hope build up in his chest. 

Charles swallowed hard. “It's been ten days.”

Erik's eyes widened. “Ten days?”

“I don't want to be like this,” Charles murmured. “But for a long time I thought I had no choice but to be. It was the only way to survive. But you...it cost me the only thing that I think could make me happy again and that was you.”

“Charles,” Erik started, but Charles shook his head and kept talking.

“When you had Seb come talk to me about what he'd been through, I thought that it was just a bunch of bullshit to try to get me to do what you want. Cain used to do that shit to me, tried to sweet talk me into doing what he wanted back in the days before he just made me. It was...it was a little too familiar, if that makes sense. I thought you were going to force me to do this.

“But then you didn't. That made me realize that you actually are going to let me make my own decisions, whether they're bad ones or not, whether they cost us both what we had between us or not. I know you don't want anything to do with an addict and I don't blame you for that. It just took me a while to realize that I don't want to be an addict either.”

“Charles,” Erik breathed out. “That is so wonderful to hear.”

“I'm not ready to go to some place for however long and let some stranger teach this out of me though,” Charles said, opening his eyes and looking at Erik. “I have serious trust issues and I can't just go trust some stranger.”

“You trusted me when I was just some stranger.”

“I trusted you because I had no choice but to. You just proved to me that you were genuine.”

“You had a choice, Charles. You will always have a choice.”

“Well, maybe I realize that now,” Charles said, taking a deep breath. “So, I'm trying, okay? I can't promise you that I won't have a hit tonight because I'm dying for one, but I'm trying. And if I reach a point where I'm ready to go to some facility, I'll talk to you about it. But right now, I need to just try to do this myself.”

Erik nodded. “I would never force you to go to rehab, Charles. I just know how desperately you need it.”

“Yeah, I think I really do,” Charles said, standing up. “Thank you for the afternoon off.”

“Take the whole day off,” Erik said. “I think that you'll need a little time in the morning to prepare yourself mentally for what it is you're going to do in the afternoon.”

“You're probably right about that,” Charles said, walking towards the door.

“Charles,” Erik said, making Charles pause before opening it. “Would you like to go have dinner with me tonight? We can go to this little Italian restaurant not that far from here and just talk about some things. I think it might go better if it wasn't here when anyone we know could overhear what we're saying and spread the gossip around.”

“I don't know what we'd have to talk about,” Charles said softly. “You said everything that was necessary.”

“No, I didn't,” Erik said, shaking his head. “I said what I thought I needed to say to push you into the direction of rehab. We didn't talk about what would happen when you were done with it.”

“I'm not done with it.”

“No, you're not,” Erik agreed. “But I thought maybe knowing what's waiting for you on the other side might help you make your decision.”

Charles stared at him for a moment. “The other side?”

“Do you really think that I don't want to pick up on what we were doing once you're sober?” Erik asked. “Because I do. I want so much more too.”

Charles broke out into a smile. “Really?”

“I told you that I want to fall in love with you, Charles. I meant that,” Erik said, smiling back at him.

“I want you to,” Charles whispered. “I really want you to.”

“Then I think we're on the right path to make that a probability,” Erik said. “And if we have to get there slowly, then we will. One step at a time.”

“One step at a time.”

“Then our dinner date tonight?”

Charles nodded. “I'd love that.”

Erik grinned at him. “I'll get us a reservation then.”

Charles smiled back. “I need to get back to work.”

“I want you to teach me how to do the inventory, by the way. I can't have Bobby doing that plus running the club if you do decide to go to rehab.”

Charles let out a small laugh. “You mean you don't know how to do it?”

“I'm hopeless at it,” Erik said, laughing. “So you need to teach me.”

“I can do that,” Charles said. “But I need to go back to it. We just got a delivery in.”

Erik nodded. “Thank you for coming to talk to me, Charles.”

“Thank you for everything, Erik,” Charles said, opening the door and walking into the hallway.

That had gone much better than he'd been expecting it to. He didn't know why he'd thought it would go differently though. He'd pretty much gone in there to tell Erik that he was in the middle of doing everything Erik wanted him to do. Get his inheritance, try to get off the drugs. Of course that conversation was going to go well. 

But he hadn't expected to be asked out on a date in the middle of it. 

Charles smiled at the thought of the dinner they were going to have that night before heading in the direction of the storeroom. 

A date. They were going on a date.

Just the thought made Charles feel all warm inside.


	25. Chapter 25

Charles woke up with a smile on his face. He'd had dinner with Erik the night before, and they'd talked about their future together, and he wanted that future more than anything. He wanted the dates and the sex and the love. He wanted it all.

And then what he was supposed to do that afternoon hit him and all of his happiness went away.

They'd talked a little bit about his inheritance at dinner and Erik had talked him through some of his nervousness about the whole thing, but Charles still couldn't get the thought that he didn't deserve this out of his mind. 

He couldn't get the thought that Erik was going to kick him out now out of his mind.

Erik had assured him that he wasn't going to do that, that Charles was welcome to live in that room in his loft for as long as he wanted to, but there was part of Charles that just couldn't believe that. Charles would have more money than Erik even knew about in a matter of hours, and Erik was perfectly content to let Charles live there rent free and then pay him to work for him. 

Charles didn't understand that at all.

He forced himself out of bed and into the shower, unable to take his mind off what was going to happen that afternoon. As he stood there with the water pounding down on his head, he decided that he needed to do something really nice for Erik. Something that would show Erik just how much everything that he had done for Charles meant to him. 

He just had absolutely no idea what that could be.

He came out of the shower to find Peter sitting at the table, eating cereal while bobbing his head along to whatever music was coming through his headphones. Peter grinned when he saw Charles and pulled the headphones off, motioning for Charles to join him. “I bought some new cereal yesterday. Extra sugary. You should come try it.”

Charles shook his head but walked over to the table. “You love sugary cereal.”

“Because it's amazing,” Peter said, standing up and grabbing another bowl and spoon. “Seriously though, I think you'll really like it.”

Charles sat down and took the bowl and spoon, pouring himself some of the cereal and popping a couple of pieces in to his mouth. “Eh, it's okay.”

“Add the milk. It's better.”

Charles poured the milk in and then took a bite, smiling. “Alright, you win again.”

Peter grinned. “Excellent. Now, tell me how dinner was.”

“Excuse me?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Oh come on. I know you and Erik went on a date last night. Tell me how it went.”

Charles sighed. “I really don't want to talk about it with you.”

Peter just gave him a look. “Come on, Charles. We're a family now. Tell me about your date with my father.”

Charles took several bites of his cereal before he responded. “It was amazing.”

Peter grinned again. “Give me more info than that.”

Charles stared at him for a moment before sighing again. “We talked about what things will look like once I'm sober. It was nice.”

Peter shook his head. “You are not getting away with only telling me that. You're my future stepfather. I need to know these things.”

Charles nearly choked on his cereal. “Your future what?” he asked after he managed to swallow.

“Charles, you have to know that I'm right,” Peter said seriously. “Whatever this is between the two of you is a hell of a lot more serious than you two are pretending it is.”

Charles took a couple of deep breaths. “You don't know what you're talking about.”

“Yes, I do,” Peter said. “Maybe it's because I'm from the outside looking in but it's really, really obvious.”

Charles set his spoon down and ran his hands over his face. “Don't do this to me.”

“I'm not doing anything to you but speaking the truth,” Peter said, looking over at the clock. “Fuck, I'm gonna be late for school.”

Peter stood up and grabbed his bowl, setting it into the sink. “I don't mean to, like, overstep or anything. I'm just saying that you'd make a really awesome stepfather and I think that you and Erik would be really good together.”

“Thank you,” Charles breathed out. “But I don't know if you're right.”

“I am,” Peter said, grabbing his stuff. “I'll see you after school.”

“I hope your test goes well,” Charles said as Peter walked towards the door.

“Fuck, I completely forgot about that,” Peter groaned. “Guess I'm studying at lunch.”

“It'll be fine,” Charles said, turning to him. “And Peter? Thanks.”

Peter grinned at him. “Anytime, Charles.”

Peter left and Charles turned back to his cereal, staring at it for a few moments before picking up his bowl and heading to the sink. He poured the rest of it down the drain and then washed up both their bowls, trying to ignore everything that Peter said.

Charles was in love with Erik for sure. And Erik kept saying that he just wants to fall in love with him. But was it serious enough for Peter to consider Charles as his stepfather?

Charles had no idea.

He headed out of the loft and downstairs before he could think about it too much. Besides, he needed to prepare himself for what was happening that afternoon, and he needed to do that alone. 

Locking himself in his office was probably not the best way to do that, but it was what he was going to do.


	26. Chapter 26

Charles sat at the table nervously, wringing his hands together. Jean was sitting next to him, talking on the phone on a call that she said she had to take. At any moment, the door to the conference room was going to open and Bolivar Trask was going to walk in with everything that Charles needed to take over the Xavier family estate.

To say that he was terrified would be an understatement.

Jean ended her call and turned to Charles with a smile. “You ready for this?”

“No,” Charles said shakily. “But I'm going to do it anyway.”

Jean reached over and grasped his hand. “It'll be okay, Charles. This is just signing some paperwork. That's all this is.”

“It's paperwork that is going to give me almost a billion dollars,” Charles said, his voice trembling. “I nearly passed out when you told me how much money was involved in this. I never had any idea that there was that much money in our hands. Never.”

“I know it's a lot of money to deal with but I need you to remember that this doesn't change who you are as a person, okay? You're still going to be you after you sign these papers. You're just going to have a few more bank accounts than before.”

Charles sat there for a few moments before nodding. “I'm still going to be me.”

“Exactly,” Jean said, squeezing Charles's hand when the door opened. “Mr. Trask.”

Bolivar walked into the room and sat down, reaching across the table to shake both of their hands. “Ms. Grey. Mr. Xavier. My apologies for being late.”

“Oh, don't worry about that.”

“Thank you for finally meeting with me, Mr. Xavier. It will be nice to get this estate finalized.”

“Thank you for coming,” Jean said, squeezing Charles's hand one more time before letting go. 

“I am so terribly sorry for your loss, Mr. Xavier,” Bolivar said, setting his briefcase on the table. “Sharon was a good woman.”

“She was a bitch,” came out of Charles's mouth before he could stop it. “And please call me Charles.”

Bolivar nodded and opened the briefcase. “Well, Charles, I hope you are ready to sign things because I have a whole lot of papers for you to sign.”

Charles forced himself to nod. “Can't wait.”

Bolivar took a stack of papers out and Jean handed Charles a pen. “All you have to do is sign, date, and sometimes initial. The places are clearly marked.”

Charles looked down as the first set of papers was shoved in front of him, and he closed his eyes for a moment. His father wanted him to have this. His father wanted him to have all of this. That was why he was doing this. To make his father proud. All he'd ever wanted was to make his father proud. And maybe, maybe he would have been. Charles would never know.

He opened his eyes and flipped to the first page that was marked, carefully signing his name on the indicated line. He kept doing it, signing, dating, and initialing like a machine, until Bolivar took the last set of papers from him with a smile. “I will get all of this filed and I should have the information for all the access in about three or four days.”

“I'll meet with you and get it whenever it's ready,” Jean said before Charles could speak. “And then Charles and I will go through it and see what needs to be done.”

“That sounds good to me, Ms. Grey,” Bolivar said, closing his briefcase and standing up. “Thank you for finally agreeing to this, Charles. I sincerely hope that you have gotten the help that you needed to be a healthy and productive member of society again.”

Charles swallowed hard at the implication that he hadn't been a healthy and productive member of society, silently telling himself that Bolivar thought that he'd gotten himself strung out on drugs and that he didn't know anything else. “I'm working on it,” he forced himself to say. 

“That's wonderful to hear,” Bolivar said, shaking both of their hands. “I'll be in touch, Ms. Grey.”

Jean nodded and Bolivar left the room. She turned her attention to Charles and wrapped her arms around him when she saw how scared he looked. “He's gone, Charles. The hard part is over.”

“I don't know if this was a good idea,” Charles murmured into her shoulder. “I don't know that I can handle this.”

“We'll do it exactly as we discussed, okay? I'll keep a hold of all of the information until you're ready to talk about it.”

“We need to talk about it. I need to properly compensate you for doing all of this for me.”

“I told you that I was doing all this legal work for the three of you for free and I meant every word of that. You don't need to compensate me for anything.”

Charles pulled back and shook his head. “I know you did, but Jean, please let me do this. It's not right that I have all this money and I don't pay you for all of this. Please.”

Jean studied him for a moment before concluding that this was very important to Charles. “Okay. We'll discuss that at another time, okay? Let's get access to everything first.”

“Thank you,” Charles breathed out. 

“You ready to get back to Genosha?” Jean asked. “Because I can take you over there. I'm taking the rest of the afternoon off to get ready for my date with Scott tonight.”

Charles nodded and stood up. “Where are you guys going now?”

“Scott and I are taking ballroom dancing lessons,” Jean said, standing up as well. “I mentioned to him that I'd always wanted to, and then he said that we should take them, and I didn't think he was being serious until he brought up several options the next time I saw him. So we're taking lessons at this place in Queens and I'm really excited about it. I even bought a new dress to wear.”

Charles smiled as they walked out of the room. “I'm glad that you two are happy with each other.”

“We're having a really good time going on these dates,” Jean said, walking over to her desk to grab her purse and coat. “I honestly don't know why we didn't do this sooner. I should have been dating him instead of Logan, that's for sure.”

“Sometimes the time is just not right,” Charles said, taking his coat off the rack near the door. “And now the time is right.”

“I think you are probably right about that, Charles.” Jean looked around the office for a moment before stopping at her secretary's desk. “Alice, go home early if you want. There can't be anything that earth-shattering that can't wait until tomorrow.”

“I will think about doing that, Ms. Grey,” Alice said, turning to Charles with a smile. “It was nice to meet you, Mr. Xavier.”

“Same,” Charles offered as he put on his coat. 

“Ready?” Jean asked, and Charles nodded.

They walked outside and realized that it was snowing, which made Jean groan. “Traffic is going to be a bitch now, so I hope that you don't mind a long ride to the restaurant.”

“That's fine,” Charles said as they walked to her car. “It'll give me more time to think about how to talk to Erik about all of this anyway.”

“You don't have to do it today if you don't want to, honey.”

“I know, but he'll be curious and I want to tell him something. I'm saving the big stuff for when I figure out what to do for him.”

Jean unlocked the car and they got inside, Jean immediately starting it to warm it up. “What to do for him?”

“He has been so gracious with me even when I haven't deserved it,” Charles said softly. “He's given me thousands of dollars in money and a place to live and all kinds of things. I need to repay him for that somehow. I just don't know how to do that yet.”

“He'll tell you that's not necessary. I hope you know that.”

“I know he will, but this is something I have to do, just like paying you is something I have to do,” Charles explained. “When I had nothing was one thing, but now I don't, and I just...I need to repay him.”

“I'm sure you'll think of something soon and when you do, come talk to me about it so I can help you do it,” Jean said, running the windshield wipers to get the snow off. “I'll be glad to help you in any way that I can.”

“I know,” Charles said, buckling his seatbelt. “You've been great about that since the day I met you. You'll never know how much I appreciate that.”

“I've been more than happy to help,” Jean said, buckling her seatbelt as well. “Let's hope we're not going to sit in traffic for the next hour, but it's a possibility.”

“Let's hope.”

**********

Erik looked up when there was a knock on his office door and he called out for whoever it was to come in. The door opened a moment later and John and Bobby walked in. “Boys! Excellent. I was just thinking about how I needed to find you so we could talk about this apartment.”

“That's what we wanted to talk to you about,” John said as they sat down on the sofa. “We've been thinking about your offer.”

“It's not an offer. It's what's happening,” Erik said firmly.

“Yes, well, as much as we appreciate you telling us that you'll buy us an apartment, Johnny and I would be much more comfortable with the situation if you agreed to allow us to pay you back for it,” Bobby said, reaching for John's hand. “You've done so much to help us over the years, Erik, and you're saving our asses right now with bringing the shows exclusively here, but it's too much to let you just buy us an apartment, especially in the building we want to live in.”

“Money is no object on this,” Erik said, standing up and walking over to them. “And I'm buying you the apartment.”

“I know that money is no object. But Erik, this feels a little too much like charity and it's something that we discussed and just cannot accept,” John said. “So we would like to work out a way that would allow you to purchase it for us now and us pay you back for it. We think that's only fair.”

Erik sighed heavily. “I'm not going to be able to talk you two out of this, am I?”

“No, you're not,” Bobby said.

“Fine. We'll work out the details once the apartment is bought,” Erik said, running his hands over his face. “You guys picked one out yet?”

“We looked at one this afternoon,” John said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the listing. “And we really would like it.”

Erik took the paper from him, looked through it, and smiled. “Four bedrooms, hm?”

Bobby nodded. “You've always known that we want children some day. Might as well get an apartment big enough for that now so that we don't have to move again when the time comes.”

“I think that's wonderful,” Erik said, looking up at them. “So this is the one you want?”

“This is the one we want,” John confirmed.

Erik walked over to his desk, sat down, and picked up his phone. “Give me a second.”

John and Bobby sat there while Erik called someone, and it became apparent that he was speaking to a real estate agent a few moments later. They listened to him instruct the agent to do whatever was necessary to purchase that particular apartment, and when he hung up the phone, he smiled at them. “Alright, I'll let you know when everything is closed and then we can get you moved in. Start packing in the meantime.”

“And once that happens, we'll talk about paying you back for it,” Bobby said seriously, making Erik sigh again.

“Yes, once all of that happens and you're settled in the apartment, I'll come over and we'll get all that hashed out.”

“Thank you,” John said, standing up. “Erik, you have no idea what this means to us.”

“Maybe not, but I think I do,” Erik said, standing up as well. “And you two deserve to have a place like that. I might even get you some neighbors too. Depends on what else is available in that building.”

“Neighbors?” Bobby asked as he got up. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, Alex and Darwin need a much better apartment than the one they are living in. I had Darwin show me pictures and I'm getting them the fuck out of that place as quickly as possible. And then I told Scott that he's moving. He's still living in that damn apartment where his old dealer knows where to find him, and the fuck if I'm going to let him continue to live there,” Erik said seriously. “So yes, neighbors.”

“That would be kind of fun even though we see each other all the fucking time because we're always here,” John said, looking at his watch. “I've got to go start setting stuff up. I'll see you both later.”

John kissed Bobby quickly and then walked out of the office, which gave Erik the opportunity he'd been hoping for. “What the latest on his father?”

“He hasn't heard anything from him since we changed his number, but he's still on edge about the whole thing. He won't tell me what his father said to him, only that it was a bunch of really hurtful shit, and I can't decide if pushing him to tell me that would be a step forward or a hundred steps back, so I'm not really trying to get him to give that up,” Bobby said, sighing. “We're still terrified that he knows where the apartment is, so the sooner we can get moved into the new one, the better.”

“Once it's closed, I'll get a moving truck over there and we'll get you moved as quickly as possible. I don't want you two anywhere that motherfucker might be able to find you.”

“Neither do I, which is why we're staying in a hotel right now,” Bobby said, shaking his head. “I'm really worried about him though. He's been very jumpy and shaky ever since I took those fucking pills away from him. I know he wants them desperately because he's fucking addicted to them, but I also think he's finally stopped them. I'm trying to trust him on that but it's difficult.”

“I don't blame you. I'm not sure I'd be trusting him about that right now either,” Erik said, looking up at the clock. “Go get to work. I'll let you know as soon as I hear something back from the real estate agent.”

“Thanks, baby,” Bobby said, heading towards the door. “And Erik?”

“Yes?”

“I hope that you get things straightened out with Charles,” Bobby said softly. “I want you to be happy.”

“I am happy.”

“I don't know that I believe that,” Bobby said, opening the door. “I'll talk to you later.”

Erik sighed as the door closed, walking back to his desk and sitting down. He tried to turn his attention back to the papers in front of him, sighing heavily when he couldn't. He put them down and reached for the stack of mail instead, flipping through all the ads until he saw a letter from the owner of the building. Erik tore the envelope open, pulling out the paper inside and unfolding it. He assumed that it was about renewing his lease and he read through the letter. But he couldn't believe what he had read, so he read through it again.

This process repeated ten times before he allowed the words written there to sink into his brain. The owner of the building wanted to kick him out when his lease was up. And his lease was up in a month.

Fuck.

Erik dropped the letter down to the desk and buried his head in his hands. There was no way he could find a new place for the business in a month. There was just no way. 

He was motherfucking screwed.


End file.
